Hi, Sieger,
I don't know whether you are referring to the Nambu pistol or the Arisaka rifle as copying the Luger firing pin, but both do in a way. Straight drive strikers did not originate with Luger, though. Not only the Borchardt but several earlier pistols and, of course, rifles, used them. Even the internal mainspring (vs. the external Mauser type) was not original to the Borchardt, but it is more expensive to make.
The interesting part about the Arisaka is that the bolt is (AFAIK) the simplest ever made, having only 6 parts, including the safety.
Ed, believe it or not, those were theories put forth on at least one web site. The second was apparently believed because the poster's father or uncle claimed to have taken the rifle away from a Japanese soldier in hand-to-hand combat, and it was ground! So the Jap must have done it, as the father/uncle would never stretch the truth!
(My experience was that WWII vets may well have been heros and we owe them a debt, but they were, as a group, the biggest liars in the world.)
Jim
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