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boilerstroup, the thing about the "mum" (short for chrysanthemum, symbol of the monarchy) is that guns that were surrendered at the end of the war had the "mum" ground off, to avoid disgracing the emblem. Japanese guns from WWII with the "mum" intact were vet battlefield pick-ups and bringbacks.
You MUST have the Arisaka checked by a competent gunsmith before firing it. Quality control varied GREATLY throughout the war, with the "last-ditch" guns having little shortcuts taken with them, like substitution of wood for metal parts like the buttplate. And I wouldn't use WWII ammo.....some has a tendency to "fall down go boom".
The Mosin Nagants are pretty cool, and there's a whole subculture of nagant collectors out there. I've got a nifty 1917 dated M-91 (full length) that still has the Romanov double-eagle crest on it, so it was made right at the end. It's pretty spiffy.
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