Type 26 Photos-Horizontally Grooved Grips

A friend of mine bought this gun for me in a US on-line auction and then sold it to me. The condition is not that great, but I wanted it because of the horizontally-grooved grips. By the 1930s most Type 26s had been in service so long they were in need of an overhaul. The Japanese took them in for an arsenal rework. You can tell reworks because the finish is different—most obviously, the original heat-bluing of the hammer is replaced with a standard chemical blue that lacks the irridescence of the original. If a revolver needed new grips, horizontally grooved panels were used instead of the original checkered pattern. These grooved grips are similar to those on Type 10 flare guns. The Type 26 is double action only and is of the break-top variety with automatic extraction.

Here is the left side.

The markings are on the right side. At the top is the Tokyo Arsenal mark. Tokyo arsenal is also called Koishikawa after the area where the arsenal was located. The second line says ni-ju-roku-nen-shiki, i.e. Type 26 (literally “26 year type”). The bottom line is the serial number.

The hinge pin screw is somewhat the worse for wear, probably from using a screwdriver with a blade that was too thick.

When buying a Type 26, always ask for close-ups of the end of the barrel. This is usually where the pitting is worst since it would be in contact with the sweat-moistened leather of the holster. Pitting and other finish blemishes often don’t show up in overall photos of a gun. You needn’t reject a gun because of such pitting (almost all Type 26s have it to some extent), but you should be aware of it so you can match the price you pay to the condition.

Another spot to check is the thumb notch on the bottom of the frame. After pulling down the trigger guard, this is where you insert your finger or thumb to swing open the sideplate for cleaning, inspection or repair. This one is not that bad, but some have been mutilated in this area through misuse of tools. The sideplate should swing open freely with just finger or fingernail pressure.

The inside of the left grip panel has the same assembly number as the frame, 114 (shown below). However, it has a different prefix, the katakana phonetic symbol se.

The parts were serialized with assembly numbers on Type 26s. These numbers are on the two sides of the grip frame and often bear no resemblance to the serial number. In this serial range they got a three digit number with the last two digits matching the last two digits of the serial number. On the left grip frame (under the grip panel) is the katakana phonetic symbol ka above the number 114.

Don’t try this at home, kids! The cylinder on this revolver would not go back on when I got it. The problem was that the little washer in the lower right of the photo had come out of its appointed position on the extractor shaft and prevented the cylinder assembly from sliding back onto the hollow shaft it fits onto. Because of that, I had to disassemble the cylinder assembly, something you should not do unless there is a problem like this. I drifted out the extractor bearing pin (bottom middle of photo), which allowed me to slide off the extractor bearing (bottom left) and then remove the extractor and spring from the cylinder body. The washer is not on standard parts diagrams, so I think it was added to tighten up the locking of the sylinder somehow. If I figure out how that worked, I will put it back in. I have shown the parts inside the cylinder so that, with your curiosity sated, you will not attempt this procedure needlessly. Leave it alone unless it is broken.

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Last updated: June 7, 2006. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.