Friend's Nambu

[sipowicz]

My friend is looking to get rid of this gun his dad got in WW2. I looked at it today...in very nice shape...no holster, one mag. Any ideas on it's value? And does anyone know what that lever does on the left side? I pushed it down and couldn't get it back up...I imagine it has something to do with taking it apart...

He also has this...I got excited at first thinking it was a Smith, but it's an H&R 38 ctg.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Sip, that lever is the safety, believe it or not. There's a detent on the side of the frame that is supposed to stop the lever from going all the way down but on that one it seems to be worn to the point that the lever is slipping below the frame. Dissassembly, though I haven't done it in a while, is done on the one I have by pulling down on the trigger guard.

I've got one my dad brought back from Luzon. As far as value, they were never worth a great deal, but they've started going up in the last few years. Still nowhere near the level of say a Luger or P-38. Almost surely never will be.

The last I looked there were a few on places like GB, GA, etc., and you should be able to get some idea of value there. That one is not in the greatest condition and if it does not have the clip (I call it that because that's what my old man--and most every WWII vet I've ever met--calls the little bullet holder thingy you stick in the handle) it of course detracts from the value. They don't carry those things at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Paladin wrote an article on Nambus and knows a good bit about them. I had a link to the article but it doesn't seem to be working now. If he doesn't show up you should PM him.

Here's Dad's, along with the pocket knife they gave him in New Guinea before they hit the Phillippines:

He found it in a cache of weapons in a cave on Luzon, in cosmoline. From my reccolection, the shape of the trigger guard makes it an earlier gun than your friend's.

 

[LVSteve]

You appear to have over-rotated the safety somehow. I believe that it is either facing forward or back and it rotates above the axis, if you get my drift. I suspect it will go back up with some jiggling. Here is a link to a disassembly guide. It's not the exact model, but I think it will work.

http://web.archive.org/web/20061113...14/disassemble/pdf/nambutype14disassembly.pdf

 

[sipowicz]

Thanks guys...he does have the mag, forgot to put it back for the pic...

 

[Cooter Brown]

Thanks guys...he does have the mag, forgot to put it back for the pic...

Clip, Sip, clip.

You REALLY don't want to annoy my dad...

By the way, DO NOT dry fire that gun. The firing pins were notorious for breaking--it was so common the holster had a pouch for a spare.

 

[sipowicz]

Thanks...so 19 8...that would be august 1944...right?

Hope we didn't break anything when we pushed the safety lever down....should have followed the arrows I noticed later on...

 

[Cooter Brown]

As far as the date, all that stuff was in John's (Paladin) article. The link by the above poster did not work for me.

From the looks of the groove on the frame of that gun, I seriously doubt you were the first person to push the safety lever down like that!

 

[2152hq]

There's a separate sear in behind the trigger itself that the safety blocks (kind of!) when it's rotated. Not the most positive set up.
It's just a slight clearance cut in the shaft that the lever is attached to that allows function or blocks it.

To move the safety lever back up in position may require the action be uncocked,,or the bolt pulled slightly to the rear,,something of that nature to take the pressure off the trigger bar.
Firing pin is fragile as already pointed out. If you do have to dryfire,,place a dowel down the bore and hold it tight against the bolt face and let it act as sort of a snap cap to dry fire.

If all else fails,,disassemble the pistol. The magazine release blocks the exact position the lever must be in to allow removal. There's a relief cut in the frame at that position and you can pull it out to the left side.

Values seem to run $300 and up for a decent condition pistol. Like anything, certain mfg dates, markings and manufacturers can make a big difference. Homework is necessary.

The 'Japanese Luger',,one pistol I never had much to do with. Not a big market for repair, restoration and custom work...
Usually just putting one back together that's in parts in a cigar box.

 

[haggis]

You have to look at condition on Japanese WWII pistols as a function of when they were made. As the war went on, especially after the B-29 raids started, initial quality deteriorated. For a mid-1944 gun, that one looks just about like it did when they made it. Cooter's gun looks better because it was made earlier. It's hard to judge from afar, but your gun could be worth $400-$500, and maybe more, depending if the mag is correct for the date, or if the mag has a matching serial number. One telling thing is the grips which are correct and in great condition, indicating not much hard use.

Japanese small arms were not held in good regard until much later after the war. Assessments of the design and construction were colored by the intense racial hatred on both sides during the war. In fact, their bolt rifles were the strongest Mauser design ever made. Their pistol designs, while a bit unusual, were fairly well designed and decently constructed (given the war's effects). I have two T-94's, one made in 1937 and one in May, 1945. The former has a rust blue that a Luger would envy, and the latter "last-ditch" gun is fully functional and safe. Finish challenged, to be sure, but 100% the way it left the factory.

One of the interesting things about the T-14's is that they have the lightest safe trigger on a military gun, breaking at around 2 pounds. It's a very accurate gun, handicapped mainly by its light-for-its-weight 8mm Nambu cartridge, and its clumsy two-handed reload coupled with a hold-open that drops when the mag is removed.

Buck

 

[Rule3]

Johns thread:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/243910-nambu.html

 

[sipowicz]

If anyone is interested in buying this pistol, or the .38, please PM..I'm sure you would get a good deal as my friend is not a gun guy and wants to get rid of them.

 

[DWalt]

Back in the 1960s and much of the 70s, you couldn't give a Nambu away. Now you can't afford to buy one.

 

[quneur]

23,471.25 yen

 

[ssgmac]

Nambu

Its not only that the firing pins might be brittle! Many are found with boken firing pins because as the Marines boarded Navy ships to go onto another mission the navy would break the firing pin off so they wouldn't shoot each other onboard ship. Also many Arisaka rifles do not have matching bolt's, as you boarded you drop the bolt in the bucket and when you disembarked, you grab one from the bucket!!!

 

[mc5aw]

Sip ... Have you contacted Ray yet about making an IWB rig for the Nambu? Might make for a nifty crime fightin' set-up.

 

[Texas Star]

Its not only that the firing pins might be brittle! Many are found with boken firing pins because as the Marines boarded Navy ships to go onto another mission the navy would break the firing pin off so they wouldn't shoot each other onboard ship. Also many Arisaka rifles do not have matching bolt's, as you boarded you drop the bolt in the bucket and when you disembarked, you grab one from the bucket!!!

That seems highly unlikely. Can you substantiate it?

Where did you read or hear it?

 

[steamloco76]

As far as late war Nambu pistols go, the OP's is pretty decent looking. I was lucky enough to handle a 1940 production Nambu at my LGS. Very decent overall fit and finish except for the grips. The later production pistols show very many tool marks, typical of forced production speed. Even late war German arms are rough!

The quirky Nambu is becoming quite collectable mainly due to the huge number of WWII enthusiasts making a market outside the pure firearms collectibles market. I Western PA, a decent, complete Nambu doesn't last a week on a busy gun shop shelf.