1943 type 14 nambu

I've got so much of this stuff, but photos of only a few items. The pistol is a complete outfit with belts, lanyard, tools, holster, ammo, etc. It includes the capture papers made out to a black private who was allowed to go on shore because the soldiers liked him. . .lucky him. He did survive. The knife is a typical pre-war (but used during the war) model. A little too fancy for manufacture during the war. The pistol outfit is mint which is quite unusual for a capture bring back.

Attached Images

	Jap Nambu.jpg (125.3 KB, 52 views)
	Jap Tanto Dagger.jpg (96.6 KB, 75 views)

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Dr. B

this is a recent interest of mine after moving thru lugers and 1911A1s and reading the pacific trilogy by ian toll.

the other day i got a couple boxes of 8mm nambu formed from .357 sig cases just to have the experience of shooting this thing... but i dont have any reasonable expectation that it will perform reliably after seeing various youtube videos

Based on what I read on Gunboards about very similar daggers, I think you have one made for diplomats or high court officials in the emperor's palace. That isn't an issued fighting knife.

Naval dirks are also pretty fancy.

Yeah, you won't find 8mm Nambu ammo on sale at Wal-Mart, ha!

Pity. I'm curious as to how reliable they were.

BTW, Japanese officers bought their own sidearms; they weren't issued. Quite a few bought Colt .32 autos before the war and they captured more from the Dutch after invading the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. The Dutch holsters are quite nice. Maybe someone will post a photo? Many Lugers were also taken from the Dutch. All but late date Mauser ones had grip safeties.

They also bought some DWM .32's that were basically good copies of the Browning M-1910.

A boyhood pal's dad had an 8mm Nambu that he brought back from the war. I held it but never shot it. It seemed well made and had a smooth action and felt good in my pre-teen hands.

Many families had such guns then, and German and US items. By the time I was 15, I'd learned to use most wartime guns. My parents were not "gun people", but I managed to get them to buy me a Webley MK VI and a No. 4 MK I .303 rifle.

One guy's dad owned a Luftwaffe dagger that was about new. No one then realized what this stuff would be worth within our lifetimes. I paid $2.98 for a Commando dagger, Second Pattern, at an army surplus store.

this type 14 is nicer than i had been led to believe. its finished fairly well compared to some later models from '44 and '45 where they took some serious production shortcuts.

For those who may not know, Bill Ruger's inspiration for the .22 Standard Model pistol back in the late 1940s was the Nambu. He just made it look more like a Luger than a Nambu. I have a Nambu story, but I won't go into it now. Too long.

One of the older Reloader's Digest editions has a fairly detailed article on forming 8mm Nambu cases and reloading for the Nambu.

My only Jap WWII gun is this raggedy Arisaka:







I need to find a top handguard for it. I doubt I'll shoot it, but I just might. The price was right.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

My dad brought back a bayonet, a .25 caliber carbine and a samurai sword. My older brother has the rifle and sword. I have the bayonet.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

My Dad was there during the Army occupation, he brought back an Arisaka rifle in fair shape but roughly made. Lots of machining marks and rough wood work. The chrysanthemum is ground off of the top of the receiver which has some meaning. He also brought back a "naval officers sword" which is western style, not the typical Japanese sword. No scabbard though.
I inherited and have the Arisaka, my nephew the sword.
My Dad spent quite a while in occupied Japan, being from Hawaii he was very familiar with the Japanese culture and enjoyed his time there.

Circa 1979 when my wife wasn't yet I decided to buy her a rifle. The local shop had two "sporterized" Arisakas. One was really rough and billed as being in the original 6.5X50. It was priced at $95. The other had a nice Fajen stock, barrel bobbed to 20", Redfield receiver sight, Weaver ramp and a deep blue. It was listed as 6.5-.257 Roberts and priced at $65. I bought the nicer, cheaper rifle and 2 boxes of .257 Roberts ammo to fire form. At the range a .257 would not chamber - yup, someone had mismarked the guns. I returned the dies and ammo and didn't even ask for a refund. 6.5 Jap worked just fine. Still have the woman, who still has the rifle.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Anyone ever see a Japanese training rifle? I have one, sort of similar to the Type 38. Fairly crude manufacture, but it served the purpose for drill use (non-firing). There are several variations, mine is the Izawa style. I have seen only one other, and have read that almost all of them were destroyed during the occupation period. Story is that school kids used them for military training which was mandatory for boys.

" The chrysanthemum is ground off of the top of the receiver which has some meaning." The Mum was the personal symbol of Emperor Hirohito. I have understood that MacArthur ordered that the Mum had to be ground off the receiver rings of all captured rifles before they could be brought or sent back to the USA as souvenirs by GIs. It's a little difficult to find a Jap rifle with the Mum intact. I had one, but sold it before I knew just how uncommon they were. I thought the buyer was overly eager to buy it and didn't quibble over the modest price I was asking.

I've always thought the Arisaka Type 2 Paratroop rifles were awesome guns. There will soon come a day when Jap guns start bringing what German guns are bringing I'm afraid

Wow that's a treasure.

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Life is short,live it fully.

Have had 1/2 dozen Nambu's and have reloaded ammo for them. The key to reliable function is to load at the max load. Most commercial reloads load on the light side to be on the safe side but the Nambu's needs hot ammo to run well.

Look at the faces of those raggedyass Marines in that first pic. They worked hard for those souvenirs. A New Breed indeed.

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Smith & Wesson beat four aces

Ive seen brand new guns that are not as nice looking as that old Nambu

My new youtube video of Jap Nambu vs. Colt 1911 comparison:

Its just me laughing hysterically as a rack the slide on my 1911...