Nambu type 14

[Mausermolt]

Does anyone shoot their Nambu? if so where do you get the ammo/reloading supplies? one of these is on my wish list. if any of you have pictures or interesting tid-bits on them please share

[James K]

I got some lead-bullet ammo from Midway (not the current company by that name) many years ago and fired a couple of those guns, also a Papa Nambu and a Type 94. Not very impressive, though reliability was OK for that small a sample.

Buffalo Arms shows the ammo at around $45 a box of 50, which would be OK for just some firing, but not for a lot of plinking.

Loading dies are available from the bigger manufacturers.

The guns are interesting and, oddly enough, I came to respect the Type 94. In spite of its odd looks, the design works OK and it has some clever manufacturing techniques.

Jim

[tahunua001]

buffalo arms is the only place I currently see ammo advertised. none of the major manufacturers make it and I think buffalo arms even has to form their brass from 40 S&W but don't quote me on that. dies will also be hard to find and expensive where available but once you get those then you have to find either some very light weight round nosed 8mm bullets or find a bullet mold that I'm sure buffalo arms also has.

nobody buys a nambu for a range toy, they get them for collectors. if I ever got one I doubt I would buy more than 1 box of ammo in my lifetime for it. I'd shoot sparingly and reload until the brass was shot and then it would never leave my safe again. for $1 a round in a semi auto pistol, I'm sure I can find some cheaper alternatives in the safe.

[James K]

I have three Type 14's, two Type 94's, a Baby, two Papas and a Grandpa. Aside from what I reported above, I have not fired any of them.

I would like to caution about the common belief that the .30 Luger can be fired in the 8mm guns. It can, but is not recommended. The pressure level of the .30 Luger is higher than that of the 8mm Nambu and were it not that the bullet is undersize would probably cause damage to the Japanese pistols.

Jim

[chiefr]

I have a type 14 that I do shoot. I have some of the old Midway brass. Check Graffs, they usually have both brass and bullets.

[Mausermolt]

when i get one i wasnt planning on using it as a range toy. i would just like to shoot one just to see what they are like then put it in the display case. thanks for the comments
Cheers!

[Slowhand]

I picked up a Japanese WWII Nambu, Type 94, 8 mm pistol, this week at a local gun shop. I’ve been keeping an eye out for one for years. Very rare in LGS and at gun shows they’re way over priced.

I recognized the first Kanji marks as being from an armory in Japan. Having owned an Arisaka Rifle. It uses a numbering system that shows the year and month of the Sho or Showa Empire, which was Emperor Hirohito's reign. It's a Type 94, which means it was adopted in the year 2594 by the Japanese Calendar.

The 12 - 11 stamp says that it was produced in November 1937. There is a final inspection mark, followed by the mark of the Nagoya Arsenal and the Company Logo of Chuo Kogyo, who inherited the company after Nambu died. That's on the right side.



I going to a gun show this weekend, so if I run into some ammo, it may get a range trip. If that happens I’ll be extra cautious. They’re notorious for not being user friendly.

[James K]

Actually, they are not bad pistols with good ammo. They were one of the guns the Japanese sold, mainly on the Mexican and Latin American market, before WWII. They got an interesting reputation when some armchair warrior discovered that with hammer cocked and the safety off, the gun could be fired by pressing the sear bar on the left side.

That led to the nonsense story that a Japanese officer would pretend to surrender and approach an American with the pistol held with his finger off the trigger. Then, when close enough, he would press the sear bar and either 1) kill the American or 2) kill himself, depending on which war story the listeners wanted to believe. So the gun got named the "sneak pistol" or the "suicide pistol".

Silly, of course. No Japanese, officer or private, with a gun in his hand was going to get anywhere near an American Marine or soldier no matter where his finger was. Further, the Type 94 was issued mainly to the Naval Air Force, so unless the Japanese gentleman was walking away from his plane at the time, he would likely not have a Type 94.

Jim

[Slowhand]

James

Thanks for sharing on the history. I've done some research on these and like you said it was mostly issued to Naval Air Force. But who knows?