" ENEMY WEAPONS -- JAPANESE ARMY " RESTRICTED WWII INFANTRY TRAINING FILM NAMBU MACHINEGUN 11854

The real difference is that the Japanese weapons came with a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty.

I inherited a model 99 from my dad. It had sat there for at least 70 years without being fired. I recently started reloading and loaded up some 7.7x58 for it. First I cleaned it and ran a borescope through to to make sure there were no obvious problems, then I took it to the range. I gingerly fired one round, then two. I ended up putting about 60-70 rounds through it over the next few weeks. It’s amazing that a rifle that old still functions flawlessly and shoots great. It’s a testament to the engineering know-how back then. I should also mention that I dated it to around 1939 so it’s an early war model and at this point is around 85 years old. I heard some of the late war models were more hurried and less well made.

The arisaka rifle has the most "illiterate farmboy friendly" disaasembly of ANY bolt action. That bolt is literally idiot-proof. Design genius of very rare quality.

No warning not to place the buttplate of the grenade discharger on you knee or thigh when firing it. Some soldier apparently tried that. The model 98 was known as the "knee mortar," but knee smasher was more accurate.

These are among the best videos of the early 20th century. 80 years later, Gun Youtubers are still making the same types of videos as these US Armed forces training videos.

Good to know enemy weapons, in WW1 my grandpa told me the story of his 1903 Springfield being destroyed. Grandpa picked up a Mauser And Stayed in the attack.

The best bit is when you reassemble the machine gun and realise you've still got a part you have no clue what it does !

My first rifle was a type 99 that I bought from the GI who brought it back from Okinawa. I still have it, now over 50 years later.

I'm glad how he explained how the sling "serves no other purpose than to carry the rifle" - I was a bit confused there !

My first gun was a Type 38 Carbine in 6.5. I was 16 when I bought it and still have it 43 years later. I believe it's an earlier model, since the fit and finish are absolutely gorgeous. The mum is only slightly defaced, with no pitting and pristine bluing.

The Arisaka rifle was designed by Colonel Arisaka Nariakira (有坂 成章; 1852–1915), who was later promoted to lieutenant general and also received the title of baron from Emperor Meiji, in 1907. Over the course of various wars several productions runs and variants were made, including the transition from the 6.5mm Type 38 cartridge to the larger 7.7mm Type 99, and the introduction of a paratrooper rifle that could be disassembled into two major parts for airborne operations. Tests on samples of Arisaka rifles conducted after the war showed that their bolts and receivers were constructed of carbon steel "similar to SAE steel grade No. 1085 with a carbon content of 0.80% to 0.90%, and a manganese content of 0.60% to 0.90%."[1] During destructive tests, the Arisakas were shown to be stronger than the M1903 Springfield, Lee–Enfield, and Mauser rifles.[2] The Arisakas were also one of the only guns of the era to use polygonal rifling in its barrels, rather than the more traditional lands and grooves. Some of the early issue Type 99 rifles were fitted with a folding wire monopod intended to improve accuracy in the prone position. The rear sights also featured folding horizontal extensions to give a degree of lead suitable for firing against aircraft. Near the end of World War II, last-ditch ersatz models were being made in various cost-cutting feature variations with the goal of cheaply bolstering the imperial armed forces; for example, the ovoid bulb-shaped bolt of earlier runs were replaced by a smaller and utilitarian cylindrical shape, the handguard on the barrel was omitted, and crude fixed sights were fitted.

I find it particularly interesting that we were referring to the Type 11 as the model 1922. It makes sense as Taisho year 11 was 1922, but all of the other weapons are referred to by their Japanese era years.

The model 92 Heavy machinegun looked like it had some very fine machining.

I picked up a model 38 at auction, there was a ton of WWII firearms from an individual’s collections.

These must have been older weapons lost by the Japanese in China. The allied forces initially were not capturing any Japanese equipment. The Czech ZB-26 light machine gun captured from the Chinese and its Japanese Type 97 derivation (Bren lookalikes) were absent.

I have almost all of the Japanese Arisaka variations . I need the Type 30 Carbine , which is doable . Cost wise the sniper & paratrooper most likely will be unaffordable for me . Arisaka’s rifle design was good , plus simple , Nambu improved on it for the Type99 . They do have Mauser influence . Later they were tested & found they could with stand chamber pressure above any other bolt actions of the time , and Japan did defeat Russia in the Russo-Sino war in 1904-05 . And later during WWI they sold rifles to Russia since they didn’t have enough Mosin Nagants to equip their army ,also Japan made the Siamese ( Thailand ) Type 45/46 rifle for them and also the Type I for Italy

The Solothurn MP34 sub-machine gun was purchased from a Swiss subsidiary of German manufacturer Styer pre-war, and was designated the S1-100 by the IJN. The Japanese-issue version of the S1-100 was chambered in 7.63mm Mauser, not 9mm. The MP34 was available in many calibers, 9mm being the most popular, but also chambered in .45.

Beautifully engineered

I don't think I can stress enough how much of a game changer it was for America to use a semi-automatic rifle as the standard issue weapon. Everyone else was issuing bolt-action rifles, which meant even our basic infantrymen were pumping lead out much faster and with heavier weight.

My father, an Army Combat Engineer in the Pacific Theater, told me that after surrender on Okinawa they bulldozed huge piles of small arms taken from the Japanese soldiers. Made me sick. I do own 3 Type 99's and a Type I (For Italian) passed down to me by a Soldier and a Marine Raider. I was hoping this film would include the Type I. Maybe they didn't know about them at the time.