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Dear all, I would like to share with you some notes on the Nambu Type 94 pistol. The Type 94 was designed By Kijiro Nambu in the early 1920's and entered military service with the Japanese army in 1934. In the Japanese calendar, the year was 2594 hence the designation Type 94.
Before we go further about the pistol itself, it is worth introducing Japan's most prolific firearms designer Kijiro Nambu. Born in 1869, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1891 and worked in various arsenals, designing various firearms ranging from pistols to machine guns.
The influence of German and Czechoslovakian designs can be seen in a number of his designs however, it was never a case of a direct copy. For example, while the earlier Type 14 pistol is often compared with the Luger in looks, its action is not.
The Type 94 was designed as a small pistol for use by aircraft and tank crews, with the latter being the more prevalent users. Chambered in 8x22 Nambu, and holding 6 rounds in the magazine, it had a heavy internal hammer and an action featuring a rising block, & a two-part slide.
The importance of the two part slide becomes apparent during disassembly where a part of the frame wraps around the slide itself and hence requires the rear part of the slide to be detached so the front part of the slide can move forward.
The disassembly of the slide features a cross-bolt type block held in place with the firing pin in the two consecutive pictures one can see the firing pin protruding and locking in the cross-bolt.
The barrel features a spring wound around it and has a sleeve at the back to avoid said spring interfering with the locking mechanism. Also visible behind the trigger is the magazine safety which blocks trigger movements in the absence of a magazine.
Speaking about safeties... The pistol also has a very loose 2 position safety on the left hand side of the frame that immobilised the sear. However it is worth noting that with the sear bar itself exposed, slight pressure may set it off even with the safety engaged.
Of note, only the very early models untill 1938 featured quality workmanship. Due to the rapid expansion of armed services, more & more Type 94 pistols were required. The example pictured here is referred to as a "last ditch" gun, featuring a poor finish & skipped machining steps
In total, 71,000 Type 94 were produced and this being serial number 63111 makes it one of the last. The number 19 stands for Emperor Hirohito's 19th year as Emperor, which in our calendar makes it 1944. 10 denotes 10th month therefore it was made in October 1944.
A final hallmark of late production is the fact that it has wooden grips instead of the earlier type of black bakelite. Debate still rages on Wikipedia as to whether they reverted back to bakelite in 1945 however I have never encountered such an example dated 1945.
In conclusion, the Type 94 Nambu served the Japanese Army throughout WW2, and was seen as a more reliable pistol when compared to the earlier Type 14, also designed by Kijiro Nambu.
Quirks aside... You can still make brass for it and fire it, where you will find it surprisingly accurate, however the non adjustable sights are known to not be zeroed in.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and remind you that this is a semi-automatic pistol, banned in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. At present, Canada and the EU Commission are also looking for any excuse to follow suit, demonising us collectors & other legal firearm owners.
For this weekend... I offer the choice between the genesis of the affordable semi automatic pistols, the FN1900 Vs the versatile and reliable Unique (mod)17
