Here is a new piece I just added to my collection. Although, the Nambu Type 94 has a reputation of being the most poorly designed sidearm in the history of military sidearms. The pistol was more successful than it's reputation would imply.
As the Japanese expanded into the Pacific and China, officers were so frustrated with the Type 14's cumbersomeness and complexity so much that they were purchasing European made .32acp pistols. Kijiro Nambu had been experimenting with a more European style locking block, locking system with an external hammer which would prove to be more reliable than the Type 14's complex striker fired system. He patented a pistol in 1929 that had many of these features. Following recommendations made by the Japanese Imperial Army for a smaller, more dependable and easier to manufacture pistol that would be more useful to army tank and air crews, Nambu came up with the Type 94.
One featured requested by the Army was a magazine disconnect, it seems there were quite a number of accidental discharges with the Type 14 because soldiers mistakenly thought unloading them only required removing the magazine. The Type 94 has a simple system, not really a true disconnect, which allows a bar to pop up behind the trigger when the magazine is removed. It was simple, but effective.
Most people are aware of the design defect of the exposed trigger bar that will drop the internal hammer and discharge the weapon if pressed. In reality when the safety is engaged, no amount of pressure on the trigger bar will cause the pistol to discharge. In fact, officers, tankers and airmen of the Army were happy to have a smaller, less complex pistol that fired the standard 8mm pistol cartridge. The Type 94 was strictly issued to the Army.
I won the pistol on a Gunbroker auction for $395 after watching them for quite a long time. It was made by Kijiro Nambu's factory in Kokubunji under the supervision of the Nagoya arsenal. The Showa Year and Month of production is stamped on the right side of the pistol 19.3(...to convert to Gregorian year add 1925) giving March of 1944.
The markings on the left side of the pistol read Type 94. The crude machining is indicative of late war production. In fact a month or two after this pistol was manufactured, they switched from the bakelite grips to wooden grips, another in a series of design changes to reduce cost and speed production. Of course by March of 1944, it was obvious that the Japanese's Empire in the Pacific and China was a lost cause. Some 70,000 of these pistols were produced between 1935 and 1945.
As the Japanese expanded into the Pacific and China, officers were so frustrated with the Type 14's cumbersomeness and complexity so much that they were purchasing European made .32acp pistols. Kijiro Nambu had been experimenting with a more European style locking block, locking system with an external hammer which would prove to be more reliable than the Type 14's complex striker fired system. He patented a pistol in 1929 that had many of these features. Following recommendations made by the Japanese Imperial Army for a smaller, more dependable and easier to manufacture pistol that would be more useful to army tank and air crews, Nambu came up with the Type 94.
One featured requested by the Army was a magazine disconnect, it seems there were quite a number of accidental discharges with the Type 14 because soldiers mistakenly thought unloading them only required removing the magazine. The Type 94 has a simple system, not really a true disconnect, which allows a bar to pop up behind the trigger when the magazine is removed. It was simple, but effective.
Most people are aware of the design defect of the exposed trigger bar that will drop the internal hammer and discharge the weapon if pressed. In reality when the safety is engaged, no amount of pressure on the trigger bar will cause the pistol to discharge. In fact, officers, tankers and airmen of the Army were happy to have a smaller, less complex pistol that fired the standard 8mm pistol cartridge. The Type 94 was strictly issued to the Army.
I won the pistol on a Gunbroker auction for $395 after watching them for quite a long time. It was made by Kijiro Nambu's factory in Kokubunji under the supervision of the Nagoya arsenal. The Showa Year and Month of production is stamped on the right side of the pistol 19.3(...to convert to Gregorian year add 1925) giving March of 1944.
The markings on the left side of the pistol read Type 94. The crude machining is indicative of late war production. In fact a month or two after this pistol was manufactured, they switched from the bakelite grips to wooden grips, another in a series of design changes to reduce cost and speed production. Of course by March of 1944, it was obvious that the Japanese's Empire in the Pacific and China was a lost cause. Some 70,000 of these pistols were produced between 1935 and 1945.
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