4th of July Gift -- Showa 18.12 "The Ugly One"

[alvin]

I causally collect Japanese pistols.

Nambu's initial design of Grandpa/Papa/Baby was obviously under influence of Luger 1900, but the toggle was not used, instead, he applied a C96 like wedge locking system. Those early Nambus were actaully pretty. "Type 14" started looking weird, still not bad, especially the small trigger guard ones. From initial Grandpa to final Type 94, one step after another, Nambu's design became more and more original.

It's very unsafe because the fully exposed sear. This was probably influenced by Luger. Luger is not a very safe pistol either. But unlike Luger, Type 94 has no sear cover and the sear just sit flat on left side of gun, which makes it a super dangerous pistol. Ironically, safety was not totally out of Nambu's mind -- it has a magazine safety (a trigger level safety). A little bit self-conflicting.

Another weird feature of Nambu was its hold-open by magazine follower, which was probably influenced by Mauser. However, Nambu either had never fully thought about the difference between his gun and that of Mausers, or that's exactly what he wanted (?) -- the bolt slams back when the empty magazine is removed !!

[Jack Lawman]

Originally Posted by alvin

From initial Grandpa to final Type 94, one step after another, Nambu's design became more and more original.

As I understand it, the Japanese military establishment was reluctant to evaluate and test (and perhaps scrap/modify) new weapon designs for fear of "insulting" the designer.

They relied on their "warrior spirit" (a supernatural ally) far too heavily. An emphasis on more conventional equipment, supply, and military tactics would have been infinitely more useful for them (Thank God they never figured that out!).

The fact that the Japanese army had to deliver and manage the supply of several ammunition types (6.5mm, 7.7mm and 7.7 rimmed machine gun) to the same battlefield is evidence of their inattention to standardizing equipment.

Jack

Here's a pic of a Papa I let get away: