Wartime records would go on to show that some 3,400,000 of the guns were ultimately produced and the series saw active service with elements outside of the Empire - including those belonging to Britain, Thailand, the Russian Empire / Soviet Union, and China.
The rifle had an inherently high accuracy rate and proved very reliable in even the most adverse conditions found on the modern battlefield - particularly in the jungle fighting of Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Theater. The Arisaka Type 38 (Rifle, Meiji 38th Year) was the standard rifle issued to the Imperial Japanese infantry by the time of the fighting of World War 1 (1914-1918).