Type 94 Nambu Restoration

Thor · 08-13-2003, 11:39 PM

We kept the original mill marks(and a few pits) on this one and just blued over them.
Click Here for Left Side

Click Here for Top View

Pete Ebbink · 08-14-2003, 12:26 AM

Ted,

I hate to say so...but even your artistry in restoration work cannot make this gun less ugly...Do not know what the Japanese designers were thinking when they drew this one up...JMHO...

Regards,

Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

Ron Wood · 08-14-2003, 08:41 AM

It does vie for top honors in the ugly category, and it also scores high in the not too clever class. It is hard to believe that it was actually made with an exposed sear bar...an accident begging to happen.

Nice facelift though. Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig.

Thor · 08-14-2003, 08:41 AM

Pete, believe it or not, last year someone sent me one of these and the pitting was so bad it looked like a dig up, it was beyound my talents and I sent it back to the owner. An aspect of these guns that is amazing is the frame on these small guns seems heavier than a Luger frame which is a bigger gun than the 94. I have done two Type 14s for this client also. I think these Nambus make me appreciate the Lugers more.

Jim Keenan · 08-14-2003, 10:53 PM

The Type 94 pistol has some interesting design aspects which make it easy to mass produce. The outside sear bar sounds bad, but the Luger can also be fired by pressing on the sear bar plunger (disconnector).

Besides, like all auto pistols (including the Luger), the gun should be carried either with the chamber empty or cocked with the safety on. It really doesn't matter if the sear bar is on the outside or not. (The nonsense about a "suicide pistol" or a "surrender pistol" is just that, nonsense.)

As to Nambu quality (neither the Type 94 nor the Type 14 is a Nambu), the design could be better, but the quality of a Papa or Baby is very high, on a par with the Luger by any standards. The Type 14 was not a good design, but it also was designed for mass production. While early ones were well finished, most were not. Its greatest weakness was the firing pin.

Jim

Ron Wood · 08-14-2003, 11:52 PM

From the standpoint of quality of fit an finish, the "Grandpa", "Papa" and "Baby" Nambus, plus the little known Hino-Komuro, can hold their own with European firearms of the period.

There is a pretty big difference between the exposed sear bar of the Luger and the Type 94. Even with the safety off, it is virtually impossible to accidently fire a Luger by depressing the sear bar without taking off the side plate. The Type 94 on the other hand is no problem to discharge.

I agree that the notion that the design of the Type 94 had anything to do with "suicide" or "surrender" is nonsense. Just another old wives tale that refuses to die.

Stu · 08-16-2003, 10:44 AM

Interesting thread; I just finished re-reading articles reviewing these guns, (no personal experience); the Nambu was described as a quality weapon that was nice to shoot with an anaemic cartridge. The type 14 pleasantly surprised the reviewer, nothwithstanding the points mentioned above, and was described as ergonomically satisfying.

I'm glad various countries had their own oddball designs; without them collecting would be very dull. Variety, (in design and operating mechanism), is what keeps me buying....

If every pistol was a 1911 the gun world would be a very dull place <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Lugerdoc · 08-17-2003, 08:03 AM

Ugly Yes, but hard to beat the T14 for a smooth light trigger pull. I wonder if they had problems with going full auto? Never heard of any. TH

fg42 · 08-17-2003, 01:41 PM

Some things just feel good in the hand. Heft a Gurka knife and you just know you could slice up what ever is in reach. Hold a Luger and you almost automatically point it at something. Hold a type 94 and you will look down at it and think boy those Japanese must have different hands than mine, then you put it down. Its amazing that was accepted by any army. Thanks Bob Benson

Thor · 08-17-2003, 02:51 PM

I totally agree with you Bob!

riffraff · 08-18-2003, 06:00 PM

Japanese medium and heavy maching guns were decent. All other small arms used by them were and are JUNK, and ugly, and underpowered. It is my opinion that this is a primary reason that they took such very heavy casualties in the island campaigns verses our troops. I say this with admittedly very little personal experience with Japanese Pre WWII and WWII armaments. Mike

fg42 · 08-23-2003, 04:56 PM

Mr riffraff I dissagree with you. Most of the jap small arms were serviceable and effective. Their light machinegun guns may look wierd but the T96 & T99s were supurb at least as good as our BAR. The Jap T38 & T99 (barring the last ditch models) with their cromed bores (something we didn't do till the M16) were accurate and at least as easy to use as our Springfields ,the Manlichers of the Dutch The SMLEs of the Brits and the hodpoge of Mausers of the Chinese. The "underpowered" 6.5x52 jap (my uncle told me that before he landed at Guadalcanal they thought that getting shot with a 25 cal wouldn't hurt to bad but they were thinking of the 25 ACP but soon found out the differce) doesen't look to bad when compaired to the 30 carbine the 8mm kurtz or the 7.62 x 39 AK or 5.56 we use now. The 8mm Nambu round is no as powerfull as a 45ACP or 9mm Luger but it is superior or close to the 32ACP or 380 ACP of the PP PPK Sauer CZs M22 Brownings Or Barrettas Or the Webleys and Endfields in 38SW. The Jap was there to fight for his country and he did. The Japs didn't surrender in mass like The Brits in Singapor or Us forces on Batton & Wake or German from Stalingrad Talk to a rare POW survivor and most will say they wouldn't have lost many more of their comrads had they fought on. The reason the Japs took such high casualtys in the islands has much more to do with the facts that they were cut off from supplys by the Navy, and we used overpowering air,artillery and Naval bombardment and useualy outnumbered them on the ground. In the face of these overpowering odds the Japs were able to inflict a horrable price on our men. Sorry to be so long Bob Benson

Ronald Welch · 08-23-2003, 06:46 PM

thor, yes it will fire by pressing the out side sear bar ,but a luger would have to be pretty worn out to fire by pressing side bar. as for the type 96 seems like a copy of the brit. bren gun,but lousy clip. as for the type 94 pistol its best displayed in a fish bowl with the gold fish. Ron

Ron Wood · 08-23-2003, 07:30 PM

What have you got against goldfish?

Edward Tinker · 08-24-2003, 12:27 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by riffraff:
Japanese medium and heavy maching guns were decent. All other small arms used by them were and are JUNK, and ugly, and underpowered. <hr /></blockquote>Mike, no offense, but I get tired of hearing this. The Japanese guns are not junk and in fact, fairly well made, it is one of those myths carried over from WW2 vets. There are uglier guns around and less powerful ones, such as the 32 acp. It is not a very powerful round, yet was carried by many countries in Europe, so the 8mm is not a bad round, just not made in bulk. After WW2, I have heard it was hard to get 9MM and that some shooters had their barrels changed on their Lugers to 7.65mm, because it was more common, yet now the 9mm is one of the top selling rounds.

No flames intended, and yes, I like the Luger better, but the Nambu shoots nice also,

Ed

Dwight Gruber · 08-24-2003, 12:32 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by tacfoley:
You will notice that there are very few, if any, movies where the villain, or anyone else for that matter, has a Nambu...... <hr /></blockquote>I haven't yet managed to confirm this, but I am pretty sure that at one point in "Never Say Never Again" Sean Connery carries a nickel-plated T-14.

--Dwight

08-13-2003, 11:39 PM	#1
Thor User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 4,583 Thanks: 958 Thanked 970 Times in 276 Posts	Type 94 Nambu Restoration We kept the original mill marks(and a few pits) on this one and just blued over them. Click Here for Left Side Click Here for Top View __________________ Thor's Luger Clinic http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/ Ted Green (Thor Yaller Boots) 725 Western Hills Dr SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 915-526-8925 Email thor340@aol.com ----------------------------------- John3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

08-14-2003, 08:41 AM	#3
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 6,986 Thanks: 1,065 Thanked 5,088 Times in 1,674 Posts	It does vie for top honors in the ugly category, and it also scores high in the not too clever class. It is hard to believe that it was actually made with an exposed sear bar...an accident begging to happen. Nice facelift though. Sort of like putting lipstick on a pig. __________________ If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction

08-14-2003, 08:41 AM	#4
Thor User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 4,583 Thanks: 958 Thanked 970 Times in 276 Posts	Pete, believe it or not, last year someone sent me one of these and the pitting was so bad it looked like a dig up, it was beyound my talents and I sent it back to the owner. An aspect of these guns that is amazing is the frame on these small guns seems heavier than a Luger frame which is a bigger gun than the 94. I have done two Type 14s for this client also. I think these Nambus make me appreciate the Lugers more. __________________ Thor's Luger Clinic http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/ Ted Green (Thor Yaller Boots) 725 Western Hills Dr SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 915-526-8925 Email thor340@aol.com ----------------------------------- John3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

08-14-2003, 11:52 PM	#6
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 6,986 Thanks: 1,065 Thanked 5,088 Times in 1,674 Posts	From the standpoint of quality of fit an finish, the "Grandpa", "Papa" and "Baby" Nambus, plus the little known Hino-Komuro, can hold their own with European firearms of the period. There is a pretty big difference between the exposed sear bar of the Luger and the Type 94. Even with the safety off, it is virtually impossible to accidently fire a Luger by depressing the sear bar without taking off the side plate. The Type 94 on the other hand is no problem to discharge. I agree that the notion that the design of the Type 94 had anything to do with "suicide" or "surrender" is nonsense. Just another old wives tale that refuses to die. __________________ If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction

08-17-2003, 08:03 AM	#8
Lugerdoc Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: POB 398 St.Charles,MO. 63302 Posts: 5,089 Thanks: 6 Thanked 736 Times in 483 Posts	Ugly Yes, but hard to beat the T14 for a smooth light trigger pull. I wonder if they had problems with going full auto? Never heard of any. TH __________________ Tom Heller POB 398 ST.Charles, MO. 63302 Tel 636-447-3006 lugerdoc@charter.net

08-14-2003, 12:26 AM	#2
Pete Ebbink User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The USA Posts: 5,919 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Ted, I hate to say so...but even your artistry in restoration work cannot make this gun less ugly...Do not know what the Japanese designers were thinking when they drew this one up...JMHO... Regards, Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

08-14-2003, 10:53 PM	#5
Jim Keenan User Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 184 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	The Type 94 pistol has some interesting design aspects which make it easy to mass produce. The outside sear bar sounds bad, but the Luger can also be fired by pressing on the sear bar plunger (disconnector). Besides, like all auto pistols (including the Luger), the gun should be carried either with the chamber empty or cocked with the safety on. It really doesn't matter if the sear bar is on the outside or not. (The nonsense about a "suicide pistol" or a "surrender pistol" is just that, nonsense.) As to Nambu quality (neither the Type 94 nor the Type 14 is a Nambu), the design could be better, but the quality of a Papa or Baby is very high, on a par with the Luger by any standards. The Type 14 was not a good design, but it also was designed for mass production. While early ones were well finished, most were not. Its greatest weakness was the firing pin. Jim

08-16-2003, 10:44 AM	#7
Stu User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 451 Thanks: 4 Thanked 25 Times in 16 Posts	Interesting thread; I just finished re-reading articles reviewing these guns, (no personal experience); the Nambu was described as a quality weapon that was nice to shoot with an anaemic cartridge. The type 14 pleasantly surprised the reviewer, nothwithstanding the points mentioned above, and was described as ergonomically satisfying. I'm glad various countries had their own oddball designs; without them collecting would be very dull. Variety, (in design and operating mechanism), is what keeps me buying.... If every pistol was a 1911 the gun world would be a very dull place <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

08-17-2003, 01:41 PM	#9
fg42 User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Some things just feel good in the hand. Heft a Gurka knife and you just know you could slice up what ever is in reach. Hold a Luger and you almost automatically point it at something. Hold a type 94 and you will look down at it and think boy those Japanese must have different hands than mine, then you put it down. Its amazing that was accepted by any army. Thanks Bob Benson

08-17-2003, 02:51 PM	#10
Thor User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico Posts: 4,583 Thanks: 958 Thanked 970 Times in 276 Posts	I totally agree with you Bob! __________________ Thor's Luger Clinic http://members.rennlist.com/lugerman/ Ted Green (Thor Yaller Boots) 725 Western Hills Dr SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 915-526-8925 Email thor340@aol.com ----------------------------------- John3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

08-18-2003, 06:00 PM	#11
riffraff User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: central Arkansas Posts: 28 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Japanese medium and heavy maching guns were decent. All other small arms used by them were and are JUNK, and ugly, and underpowered. It is my opinion that this is a primary reason that they took such very heavy casualties in the island campaigns verses our troops. I say this with admittedly very little personal experience with Japanese Pre WWII and WWII armaments. Mike __________________ Time Warp

08-23-2003, 04:56 PM	#12
fg42 User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Iowa Posts: 90 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Mr riffraff I dissagree with you. Most of the jap small arms were serviceable and effective. Their light machinegun guns may look wierd but the T96 & T99s were supurb at least as good as our BAR. The Jap T38 & T99 (barring the last ditch models) with their cromed bores (something we didn't do till the M16) were accurate and at least as easy to use as our Springfields ,the Manlichers of the Dutch The SMLEs of the Brits and the hodpoge of Mausers of the Chinese. The "underpowered" 6.5x52 jap (my uncle told me that before he landed at Guadalcanal they thought that getting shot with a 25 cal wouldn't hurt to bad but they were thinking of the 25 ACP but soon found out the differce) doesen't look to bad when compaired to the 30 carbine the 8mm kurtz or the 7.62 x 39 AK or 5.56 we use now. The 8mm Nambu round is no as powerfull as a 45ACP or 9mm Luger but it is superior or close to the 32ACP or 380 ACP of the PP PPK Sauer CZs M22 Brownings Or Barrettas Or the Webleys and Endfields in 38SW. The Jap was there to fight for his country and he did. The Japs didn't surrender in mass like The Brits in Singapor or Us forces on Batton & Wake or German from Stalingrad Talk to a rare POW survivor and most will say they wouldn't have lost many more of their comrads had they fought on. The reason the Japs took such high casualtys in the islands has much more to do with the facts that they were cut off from supplys by the Navy, and we used overpowering air,artillery and Naval bombardment and useualy outnumbered them on the ground. In the face of these overpowering odds the Japs were able to inflict a horrable price on our men. Sorry to be so long Bob Benson

08-23-2003, 06:46 PM	#13
Ronald Welch User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Matthews,N.C. Posts: 39 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	thor, yes it will fire by pressing the out side sear bar ,but a luger would have to be pretty worn out to fire by pressing side bar. as for the type 96 seems like a copy of the brit. bren gun,but lousy clip. as for the type 94 pistol its best displayed in a fish bowl with the gold fish. Ron

08-23-2003, 07:30 PM	#14
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 6,986 Thanks: 1,065 Thanked 5,088 Times in 1,674 Posts	What have you got against goldfish? __________________ If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction

08-24-2003, 12:27 AM	#15
Edward Tinker Super Moderator Eternal Lifer LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: North of Spokane, WA Posts: 15,909 Thanks: 1,986 Thanked 4,500 Times in 2,076 Posts	</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by riffraff: <strong>Japanese medium and heavy maching guns were decent. All other small arms used by them were and are JUNK, and ugly, and underpowered. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Mike, no offense, but I get tired of hearing this. The Japanese guns are not junk and in fact, fairly well made, it is one of those myths carried over from WW2 vets. There are uglier guns around and less powerful ones, such as the 32 acp. It is not a very powerful round, yet was carried by many countries in Europe, so the 8mm is not a bad round, just not made in bulk. After WW2, I have heard it was hard to get 9MM and that some shooters had their barrels changed on their Lugers to 7.65mm, because it was more common, yet now the 9mm is one of the top selling rounds. No flames intended, and yes, I like the Luger better, but the Nambu shoots nice also, Ed __________________ Edward Tinker ************ Co-Author of Police Lugers - Co-Author of Simson Lugers Author of Veteran Bring Backs Vol I, Vol II, Vol III and Vol IV

08-24-2003, 12:32 PM	#16
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,889 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,281 Times in 423 Posts	</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by tacfoley: <strong>You will notice that there are very few, if any, movies where the villain, or anyone else for that matter, has a Nambu...... </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">I haven't yet managed to confirm this, but I am pretty sure that at one point in "Never Say Never Again" Sean Connery carries a nickel-plated T-14. --Dwight