Papa Nambu Accessories
I
have two accessories for the Papa Nambu: a holster
and a spare magazine. I will show both below, as well as a couple of photos an
American friend
graciously allowed me to post photos before I got a Papa and the
accessories to go with it. I got the Papa Nambu
holster on eBay in September, 2005. The condition is not very good, as the
leather is quite fragile, but it was the best one I found in over a year of
looking. It was also cheaper than the others and came with a shoulder strap and
waist belt. The latter is quite rare and worth more than a holster. All in all
I thought it was an OK deal.
Here
is the back. The right strap ring holder is worn through (broken) near the top,
but the ring was still together with the rig, so I placed it back in the
correct spot for this photo. Note that unlike Type 14 holsters the right strap
ring is mounted a little lower than the left one.
This
shot with the flap open shows the ammunition pouch. It has loops for 16
cartridges and is pretty much as wide as the holster body, while the ammo pouch
on a Type 14 holster is narrower than the body and has no loops inside since it
was made to accommodate two-15 round boxes of cartridges. There would have been
date and arsenal markings inside the clamshell, but they appear to have long
since been obliterated by wear.
One
of the rows of loops can be seen as soon as you open the ammo pouch. I only put
two rounds in the loops as some of them were rather fragile and it looked like
they might crack if I tried to insert a round. This row has nine loops. The
brass closure stud on the ammo pouch had come out but was still present, so I
put it back in for these photos.
This shot from the top shows the second, lower
row of seven cartridge loops.
Looking
down into the holster body you can see the large leather block to the left that
separates the pistol barrel (on the left) from the spare magazine (on the
right). There is a second block in the very toe of
the holster that canft be seen. The loop to the right is for the cleaning rod.
In a number of spots the surface of the leather
has cracked, although in most spots not very deeply. This shot show the top of
the holster.
The front of the toe of the holster has a hole
that was worn by the front sight of the pistol.
A
common wear spot on all Japanese holsters is the front of the hinge. Some of
the stitching is a little loose here. Given the poor state of the leather, overall
the stitching on this specimen is pretty good, though.
The edging is made of very thin leather and is
another wear spot. Most of the edging is still present on this holster, but in
a few spots it is rather crumbly.
The inside top of the brass plate on the
closure strap shows the back of the rivets. The one on the top was not put in
all that well, but it seems to be holding OK.
The
strap and belt that came with this holster are actually Type 14 items and can
be seen under Type 14 Accessories (to be added).
I
have lent my spare magazine to a friend, but will post photos here eventually.
This photo from my friend shows the right
side of three Papa mags with a Type 14 magazine at the far right for
comparison. The most obvious difference is the knurling on the finger grip at
the base rather than the grooves on the Type 14 mag. Papa mags were normally
nickel plated, although it looks like the third Papa mag (second from the
right) doesnft have much plating left. Any Papa mag is scarce, though, and a
great find regardless of condition. Grandpa Nambu
mags have a wooden base, which makes them easy to identify.
(Photo courtesy of the Stancil collection)
This shot shows the left side of the mags. The
Type 14 mag for comparison is again on the far right.
(Photo courtesy of the
Stancil collection)
Last updated: September 28, 2005. All contents
are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any
form without prior permission.
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