Parts

Please note that I do not warrant the reliability of any seller you may encounter at any of these sites!

Old guns get tired and need help. Where can you get it?

One person who has a very extensive parts list is Don, a gentleman from the mid-west of the USA. I have bought several of his parts and they all looked fine and worked well. He has also been doing this for a long time, so he must be doing something right. Here is a link to his very extensive parts list: Don's Reproduction Militaria Parts List. He may also be able to make parts that are not listed.

If you must have an original part, you will have a harder time and may find the part too worn or not a good fit. Here are some places you could try, in no particular order. They have shifting inventory, so you might try all three and still not find what you need:

1. Numrich Gun Parts Corporation lists various Japanese pistol and rifle parts on their website, although most of them are usually sold out. Try Gun Parts Corp. (search using “Nambu” and then again with “Japanese”).

2. Garrets Gun Parts (website down)

3. Japanese Military Firearms Parts Japanese Military Firearms Parts (they mostly seem to have rifle parts, but some pistol parts, too)

4. Sarco Sarco

A weak point in many old guns is the springs. Rust and/or compression damage has caused many to lose their, well “spring”. Wolff sells springs for the Type 14, Type 94 and Papa Nambu online at: http://www.gunsprings.com However, there is no reason to replace springs unless they seem weak or are obviously non-standard.

I ordered sets of Type 14, Type 94 and Papa springs. I have installed a set of their extra power Type 14 recoil springs. They fit fine and vastly improved the functioning of the gun, which had non-standard springs in it when I got it. The ones it originally had in it were too big in diameter and bound something fierce, which made the action extremely sluggish. Now it snaps like new. They do not list magazine springs for the Papa Nambu, but I discovered that the ones they make for the Type 14 seem to fit and work fine. I had a Papa mag with a completely dead spring and installing the Type 14 spring made it like new. (Of course, Papa and Type 14 mags are not intended to be take apart, so one should only do so as a last resort; someone had already previously disassembled the Papa mag I worked on.)

A variety of people also make reproduction parts. The advantage of these is that they will not be worn, as many original parts are, and they are usually cheaper and easier to find.

Repro Type 14 mags are available from www.ammoclip.com. I have not tried them. From the photo on the web page there is no chance you would mistake these for originals, even when they are in the gun (the finger pad on the base is smooth rather than grooved, for example). They were sold out last time I checked.

One part that is often missing from Type 14s is the magazine safety spring plunger. This part was missing from three of my first four Type 14s. If you have ever taken out the magazine safety, you know why: this little thing is spring loaded and loves to launch itself into inaccessible places if not actively restrained. I had my husband make me a few using the one I had as a pattern, and I have used them to replace missing plungers in several guns (no, I do not have any for sale). The original is from my 19.11 dated Type 14 and is the blued one in the lower left. The other six are “in the white”.

If you really want an original part, there are a few places to look on-line. However, you have to be careful as sometimes even the sellers don’t know whether what they are selling is original or not.

EBay has a steady stream of parts and accessories up for auction (e.g. mags, holsters, etc.).

Other auction sites that are good sources of Japanese handgun parts are listed below. In the search field on the main page just type “Nambu” and hit “go” or “search”. If you are in Canada, note that most sellers will only ship to the USA, even parts that are legal for importation into Canada. This is because of US export controls, which are complex and ever-changing. It is best to import only through a Canadian dealer who has ties to a US dealer with the appropriate US export permits.

Gun Broker Auctions

Auction Arms

Gunboards: Japanese-Trader-Board (this one allows you to post wanted ads; most of the stuff is for rifles, but there is pistol stuff, too)

Last updated: January 22, 2018. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.

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