Type 14 Nambu pistol

No import mark

1943 date – Nagoya Arsenal – Excellent

The Nambu is an iconic semi-automatic pistol that symbolizes very rich history of the 1900’s. The Nambu was a series of pistols deveoped by Kijiro Nambu. Nambu pistols have three variants: The Type A, Type B (Baby Nambu), and the Type 14. The Nambu was developed to replace the Type 26 which was Japan’s only service pistol at the time. The pistol was heavily influenced by the C96. The Nambu even uses the same locking mechanism as the Mauser C96. The Nambu was fast tracked into production after  The Japanese had heard intel about European Arms development. The first Nambu was the Type A “Grandpa” which was completed in 1902, it was never adopted but many pistols were sold to Siam and China. Type A’s would only be produced from 1903 until 1906. The Type B was later introduced and adopted by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Royal Thai Army in the 1920’s. Finally the Type 14 was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army. The Type 14 was much more refined and economical to produce which helped get its production numbers up. It is believed that 400,000 pistols were produced from 1927 until 1945. The Type 14 would change over the years as feedback from soldiers was taken into account. For example enlarging the tirgger guard to be used with gloves, gnurling the cocking piece for more grip. Just like the German Luger the Nambu would be a status symbol of prestige both internally in Japan and by enemy combatants. Officers would typically carry these pistols and just like the Luger pistol, American soldiers would try and bring these back as war trophies. Japanese soldiers would destroy, deface, or hide these pistols just like the Arisaka rifles so that they couldn’t be brought back. Many were thrown into the ocean… It is said that the quality of Nambu pistols begin decreasing after 1937 as Japan would require many of these pistols for the war effort.  The Nagoya Arsenal was the largest produced of the Type 14 pattern Nambu. The Tokyo Arsenal, Kokubunji would also produce Nambu pistols. The Nambu was chambered in 8x22mm Nambu and would utilize an 8 round detachable magazine. The Nambu had an issue with the safety catch and magazine release not enabling the the magazine to slide out easily when the magazine is empty so the magazine in many instances has to be forced out by pulling hard. The safety was also difficult to operate with one hand. The Nambu had some issues with bullet consistency and chambering. The 8x22mm was weaker than other handguns at the time like the 9x19mm Luger in both German P08 and P38, Soviet 7.62×25 and the US 45 ACP. The Type 14 would be used until the Empire’s surrender in 1945 where it would be phased out for M1911A1s provided by the U.S. Government. The Type 14 saw use by the Japanese Empire along with North Korea, Vietnam in the first Indochina war and the VietCong who retrofit these pistols to shoot 7.62×25 Tokarev using 7.65x21mm Luger barrels, and the Chinese Revolutionary Army. The Nambu would go on to inspire Bill Ruger to create the Ruger Standard, the first weapon designed by Ruger & Co. this would be the most sucesfull .22 pistol ever produced 

Excellent condition:

This Nambu Type 14 is in fantastic shape for its age. The original military finish is mostly intact with very minimal wear. The wood grip panels are intact with no major damage to report. The bore looks almost new… We note a 5/5 bore as it is pretty shiny with nice sharp crisp lands and grooves. The action feels nice and strong and the breach face looks great.

NO IMPORT MARK

Frame – Right Side:

Nagoya Arsenal Mark –  “top heavy eight in circle” – Shachi
Toriimatsu Branch – Series maker – First series, “Series A” – upside down y –> Japanese “I”

SN: 986XX –> The high serial number indicates it was made near the end of the batch Japan would start new batches every 99,999 numbers.

Nagoya Arsenal final inspection mark
18.11 –> First number is the year of production 18th year of the Showa era of Hirohito. 18+1915 -> 1943 production year

Second number is the month, in this case November. This pistol was produced in November of 1943, by the Nagoya Arsenal Toriimatsu branch first series.

Frame – Left Side:

Safe-Fire Selector:
“Ka” – fire

“an” – safe or ‘peaceful’

Square font  “Ju-yon-nen-shiki” -> “ten-four-year-type” Type 14 made by Nagoya.

NO IMPORT MARK – Could very well be a US military bring back but there is no documentation or paperwork.