Nambu World: Showa 14.2 Type 94 Photos
I received this gun in August, 2006.
I bought it based on one photo and a very reasonable price. I knew about one
flaw when I bought it, but there was one thing I should have seen and didn’t,
and two more that I could only find out after personally inspecting the gun and
taking it apart. Did you spot the two visible flaws? The top of the right grip
has a small chip at the front, and the lanyard loop is missing. I knew about
the chip but was so excited about the deal I did not notice the missing lanyard
loop. Still, it is a nice piece with several strong points and even if I had
known about all the flaws I would still have done the deal. Type
94s are so rare in
Here is the left side. One flaw that
can really only be picked up with an in-person inspection is very fine,
mist-like pitting. This often results from condensation-induced rust when a gun
is stored unprotected in a damp basement where the temperature fluctuates a
lot. It probably looked like the 16.3 date I have before the fine rust was
removed with 0000 steel wool.
I got a reproduction lanyard ring from Don
Schlickman. Here is the gun with it installed.
A close-up of the loop.
This early gun shows two differences
from later ones. First, here is the bottom of the front part of the frame of
this 14.2 date (top) and a 16.2 date (bottom). Note the difference in width.
The earlier gun had the bottom of the slide and front part of the frame
machined in to be slimmer. This cosmetic machine work was dispensed with in
later models, apparently starting around Showa 15.4 (April, 1940).
The other difference is in the rear tip of the sear
bar. Note here how it is raised to be flush with the thicker upper part of the
frame.
On this 16.2 date, the raised part
is gone, that part of the frame is now machined to be the same thickness as the
lower part, and the sear bar is flush with the lower, thin part of the frame
(not the thick upper part as in the photo above). If you have trouble seeing
this, just look above the rear part of the safety lever and keep comparing the
two photos.
Here is the date. The first
character in the upper line is Sho as
in Showa, the name of the reign of Emperor Hirohito. Showa 14.2 translates to
February, 1939. The symbol in the lower left is the logo of Chuo Kogyo, the
successor to the firm founded by Lt. Gen. Kijiro Nambu after he retired. It was
the sole manufacturer of Type 94 pistols. The symbol in the lower right is the
logo of Nagoya Arsenal, which supervised all Type 94 production. There are
traces of fine rust in the markings, especially the Nagoya Arsenal logo. This
is always a good thing to check for if examining a gun in person.
Here is the serial number, located on the right
side just above the trigger, which is just visible at the bottom of the photo.
This close-up of the left side of
the trigger shows several things. Note the straw colouring on the top of the
trigger and the barely visible serial number at the very top (606, the last
three digits of the pistol’s serial number). The characters above the trigger
read from right to left: kyu-yon-shiki,
or Type 94. The button in the lower right is the magazine release. The little
lever that sticks up a bit from the bottom inside of the trigger guard (bottom
centre of photo) is the magazine safety. When the magazine is removed, it
pivots upwards and prevents rearward travel of the trigger (never rely on mechanical
safeties—always make sure your gun is unloaded when you handle it by checking
the chamber visually after removing the magazine).
One of the strong points of this gun
is that the magazine’s serial number matches the gun (major parts are
serialized with the last three digits of the gun’s number. The dot above the
serial number means this was the spare magazine issued with the gun. The character
below the number is the character To
as in
When I went to disassemble the gun I
noticed a hidden flaw: the firing pin had been replaced with a reproduction. It
is shown at the bottom of the photo below, with an original pin on top. I was
pretty sure the pin was a repro as soon as I turned the gun over and looked at
the rear underside of the bolt to start the disassembly process. The pin was too
bright, did not protrude far enough to the rear and had a rounded profile to
the rear edge. Also, when the bolt was drawn back, the firing pin tip did not
protrude quite the way it should and the tip was not shaped properly. At first
I didn’t think too much of this, as the firing pin is a weak point on these
guns, so it was not unusual for it to have been replaced. However, the poor
quality of the reproduction pin caused serious problems in disassembling the
gun. Normally you push the firing pin forward and slide the crossbolt out to
allow the slide and bolt to separate.
However, this was extremely difficult to do on this gun. The rear part
of the pin behind the notch for the crossbolt was not long enough to be able to
push it easily with a finger, so I had to use a plastic tool to push on it.
Also, the notch was not the right shape, as will be shown below, so it was very
hard to get the crossbolt out.
Here is the tip of an original firing
pin on top with the repro one on the bottom. Not only is the shape wrong, but
the spring on the repro is far too stiff. However, the tip of this original
firing pin is too large in diameter to fit through the hole in the bolt face,
so I can’t just swap this one in.
Here you can see part of the
problem. The original is on top, the repro on the bottom. The notch for the
crossbolt in the repro pin is too shallow and too short. The rear part of the
pin behind the notch is too short as well.
From the side you can see how much
bigger the notch in the original is. In this photo the original is in front with
the repro in back. I have since ordered and installed a repro firing pin from
Don Schlickman, who makes excellent stuff. It did need a bit of fitting, as is
common with Japanese pistol parts. The spring was not a problem: I have a spare
from one of the spring packs made by Wolf Gunsprings.
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Last updated: December 14, 2006. All contents are copyright Teri
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