Pulled the trigger on a...
 

...Nambu from Legacy. Been looking for one for awhile, this one looked too good to pass up.

Nambu's are fun! I bought a couple of boxes of ammo. and occasionally shoot them. $1 per shot. The trigger pull is a delight. Actually everything is quite nice, except a not-so-artsy appearance and an enemic cartridge.
I suspect that Messrs. Ruger and Sturm looked long and hard at a Nambu when designing their first .22.
dju

Its a 14 from 1942 (17.3). I've heard it repeated many times that Ruger loved the Nambu and patterned the Mk series after it. I've shot a Mk III and love it - will probably add one to my arsenal eventually - but was "just browsing" Legacy's site and found this one. Made 'em an offer, they countered, I accepted.

Seems that everyone does about the same thing, collects the gun, buys a box of ammo, shoots some of said ammo, then puts it away to shoot something cheaper!

Its what I get for browsing - I'm always looking at Lugers, Nambus, P.38s, and Ruger MK series. 2 down, 2 to go!

Congratulations!
Japanese pistols are just as interesting as Lugers in my opinion.

Another perfect example of "it can't hurt to look".......Boy, I have said that a more than a few times, and the only thing that got hurt was my wallet!! I did it last Thursday.

A Nambu is on my "one of these days" list, like a lot of other stuff. I see that prices have significantly increased lately. Brass, dies and bullets, even plated bullets, are available so shooting should not be crazy expensive.
KFS

i have several and enjoy Teri' site for great info...
 

members.shaw.ca/nambuworld/‎

Well I have three of your four, but I doubt I'll ever get a Nambu. But who knows?

It's a good time to buy a Nambu, seems like they're getting more and more expensive but there's still deals to be had. Here's my humble collection of Japanese hardware:

That bottom one's a Nambu 94 isn't it?

Nice pair of guns!

Yep, that's the infamous Type 94. I hate it for the Japs who had to carry this POS, it's one of the worst service guns ever designed.

I've heard that - what's wrong with it besides its looks?

For one thing, the totally exposed sear bar. You can fire the gun just by squeezing the side!

This was when "Made in Japan" was bad thing.....

Another "feature" is that you can release the mag by pushing the holster button too hard...

If they are what you seek, I offer a meager congrats... to each his own. :confused:

The quality of Japanese military firearms of WW2 vintage always seemed to impress me as being made by convicts in the prison machine shop when no one was looking. :eek:

Ugliest guns on the planet? Maybe... At least IMHO...I have never seen anything uglier (except the "zip" guns made by convicts in the prison machine shop when no one was looking...) :evilgrin:

OUT-STANDING!

Naw, I'm not looking for a Typ. 94. Am looking for a Vintage 1911 - Probably Remington Rand, but I'd take a Singer if it was priced right! :jumper::rockon: *JOKE*

Touched it today - it arrived at the LGS yesterday, so I went down to inspect and get the paperwork started. Legacy didn't exaggerate - its a nice piece. The grips look a bit oil soaked, but its nice and clean, minimal holster wear, GREAT bore, etc.

Best of all, the VERY "old skool" gunsmith thought it was a good example. 10 days till pickup, even have ammo on the way!

Thanks Zorba, don't forget the range report!

Oh yea!

I've been trying to get to the range for the last 3 or 4 weeks. One thing or another has interrupted - like being SICK last weekend. Maybe this weekend - I need to try out G.T.'s refurbished magazines!

I like Type 94 Nambu, due to its unusual appearance. The design of exposed sear bar is not optimal but that's not unique in Nambu -- Luger also has an exposed sear bar. To be fair, Type 94's exposed sear bar is easier to access than that of Luger's.... so it's very negative on Nambu.

Operate it in hands (never fired one), feel two things are negative, (1) It's very easy to accidentally release and drop the magazine out; (2) The hold-open was implemented by magazine follower, so when empty magazine is removed for reloading .... for a pistol of this size, Nambu should have implemented a real hold open facility.

The grip fits my small hand extremely well. That's a plus.

Still waiting - one more week - till pickup day. In the meantime, I found a numbers matching magazine for it!

And here it is!

You know, everything looks great. EXCEPT THE PURPLE NAIL POLISH! Are you trying to weird me out or is that an unintended side effect?
The Nambu looks very nice. I'll want a full range report.
dju

Zorba,
If you do decide to fire it, be aware of firing pin breakeage. I have seen examples that were broken before and later found that happens on these.
Thanks for sharing your new pistol.

Found an old photo on the net.

From dressing, were they bandits?? No. At least, the text description says no :) These were communist policemen in 1940s.

Two guys sitting in the middle were armed with Nambu pistols.

Red polish may have looked better, the purple does clash a bit... :evilgrin:

They're apparently notorious for FP breakage. I'm not going to fire it much, but I do have 50 rds on the way - a lifetime supply...

Is ammo still available?

A Nambu is a interesting gun. Neither myself or any of my shooting friends have one.
Would be fun to try one.
Interesting to realize that every single Nambu here in the USA was a GI bring back. AFAIK none where ever imported or surplussed and no other nation officially adopted them.
Bob

Eric:
There is a guy on Gunbroker.com who makes 8mm Nambu ammo. About $1 per shot. There is also a guy out there re-poping parts to keep them running. So they are shootable.
dju

One of the fellas that writes for Handloading Magazine(Mike Venturino) owns a Nambu, and reloads for his. I get the impression that he shoots his a fair amount.

Those firing pins breaks so easily that the holster even has a pocket for a spare, so original firing pins are hard to come by. If your firing pin is intact and original, you should consider replacing it with a repro before you shoot it. Don Schlickman is the best source for this, he makes excellent repro parts for the T14 and other Japanese guns. He can also retip broken firing pins: http://members.shaw.ca/tju/donspartslist.htm

Found shooting a Nambu!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIRQO9DEFlI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8BBMHh3FpA

Thanks for the web site Eric, lots of related links here. :cheers:

Lon

That's the stuff I bought. $1/rd.

Firing pin isn't original. That could be good OR bad...

I have wondered if the original Japanese ammunition used a hard primer and that was the majority of the problems and wear? I'm curious if anybody that shoots these regularly through handloading modern commercial boxers break their pins often?

Here is a link to Don's website:
http://members.shaw.ca/tju/donspartslist.htm

Zormpas
Here is a fun website for Japanese weapons,Ammo,accessories,etc.:D

http://mrnambu.com/index.html

Bob

That's who I bought the ammo from. Only guy who has it right now.