One
of the main reasons we collect is the friends that we make. This story appeared
in the August 2021 issue of BANZAI and shows the kind of comradeship and
friendship that can develop among collectors.
At
the request of the individuals concerned, names in the published article have
been replaced here by initials.
A Type 14 Nambu Magazine Match Story or
How One Magazine Out Of 556,000 Possible
Magazines Was Found!
By D. L.
A few
months ago, I was contacted by a deceased veteran’s son
who had inherited a Kokubunji Factory 13.8-date (1938.Aug) Type 14 Nambu. The owner wanted general information about
the pistol and requested any assistance to “spruce it
up,” as it was dirty and had surface blemishes. He also wanted to eventually make it
function. I replied with general Type 14
production information and data, disassembly images and cleaning instructions,
and I also requested he provide me with some images of the pistol for further
discussions. Our email interactions
progressed over several weeks as we traded information and images. We eventually came to two trade agreements
for parts in his pistol.
I was
very surprised with the left side image – the sear bar
pin had been replaced with a very obvious small bolt,
washer, and nut, and the grip had been replaced with a loose grip from a
cutaway pistol! Also, the pistol looked
to be in generally poor condition and had some surface rust. Really, it was kind of ugly. I could also tell by the base style that the
magazine was not original to the pistol.
By this time, he had also worked on the pistol itself and disassembled
and cleaned it thoroughly. He found
other mismatched parts including the cocking knob and magazine release. I requested additional images of the cutaway
grip and the magazine and advised the owner that those parts were not original
to the pistol’s manufacture. I also asked if he knew anything about the
pistol’s acquisition by his father during the war.
He
replied that his father was an Army infantry officer during the Philippine
campaign and had served for a while in the occupation of Japan in the Yokohama
and Atsugi areas near Tokyo before returning home sometime in 1946 . He believed that his father acquired the pistol with
some other souvenirs while in Japan (also brought home was a rifle, flag, and
sword – only the flag and pistol remain).
The
additional images of the cutaway grip and mismatched magazine only peaked my interest.
The grip was a legitimate very rare cutaway variation which had somehow
been separated from its original pistol which is unknown (cutaway grips are not
numbered). What is known is that the
cutaway pistol variation is very rare – the highest
known reported serial number is 19 with around half that number known to have
survived. Unfortunately, the magazine
image was inconclusive in that it was out of focus and didn’t show the magazine spine number/mark clearly. All that could be noted was a single blurry
imprint. But, I
was really interested to find out more information. I could tell by the base style that the
magazine was one of two recognized early “types,” and I suspected that the blurry mark was a single
inspection mark only – that the magazine was
unnumbered. Those possible facts made me
think the magazine was a very scarce “kit” or “armorers”
field replacement magazine – it was something worth
trying to acquire. I requested better
detailed images of the magazine.
In the
meantime, our discussions centered on the replacement of the grips and on the
replacement or repair of the sear bar pin.
I offered to find a correct Kokubunji grip or grips replacement and to
pay an extra value amount for the rare cutaway grip. He agreed to the trade, and I subsequently
located a
correct
set of grips from an advanced Type 14 collector friend. That friend also supplied a replacement sear
bar pin. Over the next week, I received
the trade parts and prepared a package for mailing. So, at this point, the cutaway grip
acquisition was a done-deal except for actual possession. (The replacement grips and sear pin were
subsequently installed in the pistol and work well.)
It took a
while to get good images of the mismatched magazine. The high-resolution images he sent were in a
very large file that my computer would not accept. I got that part fixed but then couldn’t contact him for several
days (he was out of town). By the time
he finally re-sent the detailed images separately, more than a week had
passed. Then, I opened the image files and
immediately became very excited. I just couldn’t believe what I was
seeing. It was not a kit magazine – it was something better!
Advanced
Type 14 collectors can easily identify individual magazines and classify them
into their “types” (there are
eight general types) and their sub-types by their physical and marking
features. Collectors are always on the
lookout for scarce and rare magazines.
For example, Chigusa Factory magazines (Type I) are in demand and bring
extra value. This is because Chigusa was
the first producer of the Type 14 and production was low (around 7,8xx
pistols). Some other magazine types are
popular because of their high quality finish and/or
lower production amounts (the Tokyo Type II, Kokura Type III, and Kokubunji
Type IV are examples). Some individual
magazine inspection marks are also recognized as scare or rare due to low
production and the fact that they only can be matched to very few pistols. This last rarity identifier applied to the
magazine found in this 13.8-date Kokubunji pistol.
What I
saw in the clearer images confirmed that the magazine was a Type II for pistols
produced at the Tokyo Factory between 3.5 (1928.May) and 7.8 (1932.Aug). But, what really
caught my attention was the lack of an inspection mark and the number on the
magazine spine. This magazine was what
advanced collectors refer to as a Tokyo or Type II “No
Mark” magazine only produced in 3.5 and into 3.6
(1928.Jun). A little-known fact is that,
when the Tokyo Factory started production in 3.5, the first magazines did not
have an inspection mark. Somewhere in
3.6 between pistols #211 and #281, a corresponding inspection mark was added to
the frame and to the magazine. With a
run of only around 2xx pistols, these No Mark magazines are the rarest
production Type 14 magazines to be found.
That also means that, for this early production range, the magazines
produced can only be properly matched to one pistol. And, in this case, the number on the magazine
was “2” which only goes to
pistol serial number 2! Even more exciting
to me was that a good friend and fellow collector owns Tokyo 3.5 #2.
This magazine was the second or spare
magazine with the dot over the number.
Coincidentally, another Japanese pistol collector and good friend was
visiting at my home when the images arrived, and he had images of pistol 3.5 #2
in his laptop computer. In those images
was a
close-up of
the magazine in the pistol which is the primary magazine #2 without the
dot. We were both very astonished, as I
had found the second matching magazine to pistol 3.5 #2! The number marks are identical (see
images). The odds of this magazine match
happening we figured at approximately one in 556,000. That is for approximately 278,000 Type 14
pistols
produced
with two matching magazines and for only one of those magazines being
correct. This was all very exciting for
my collector friend and me. But, the next big step was to acquire the magazine.
Acquiring
magazine #2 took several more steps and another couple weeks
to complete. I was honest with the
magazine owner advising him that it was a rare early production magazine and
that I was interested. I offered to send
him a selection of correct Type IV magazines for his pistol and some extra
money for the rarer magazine. He could
then fit the magazines to his pistol keeping the best one and then return the
extra magazines and magazine #2. He
agreed to this process, and I immediately mailed to him the extra magazines,
the replacement grips and sear bar pin, and the money for the exchange of both
items. Then, I very anxiously waited over a week to receive magazine #2 and the cutaway
grip.
The
cutaway grip is well-used and has slight damage to its front edge. Its condition is not unexpected. Most cutaway pistol examples found are in
mediocre condition, as they were a training tool and saw extensive use. I hope someday an exchange can be made to
find this rare grip a home. I know of
cutaway pistol #18 with a missing grip which is located in
a museum in Australia. Magazine #2 is in
pretty good condition finish-wise, but, it does have
some metal damage with a broken edge corner on the body at a base pin
juncture. It is repairable by a
competent restorer which I assume will happen.
The
visiting “friendly competitor”
collector and I had several discussions about the pistol itself with its many
odd parts and how we would present magazine #2 to our owner friend. We proposed all sorts of theories as to how
the rare grip and rare magazine found their way to this pistol. What we think is the most plausible theory,
albeit full of conjecture, is that this pistol was purposefully assembled after
the war as a souvenir from available parts including making the odd sear bar
pin repair. That process could explain
how the odd parts were mated to an older incomplete pistol. We’ll never know for
sure, but, the possibilities are fun to discuss. Also, as our pistol 3.5 #2 owner friend was
out of the country for another two months, we wanted to keep the find of
magazine #2 a secret until we could arrange a “reveal” event. Secrecy
proved to be a difficult undertaking for us, as we so much wanted to share this
neat story with other collector friends.
It took
four weeks for this whole transaction to run its course from first notice to
actual possession. For the last week or
so of that process, and being pretty sure the acquisition would be successful,
our planning turned to the mechanics of putting the pistol and its two original
magazines together. My friend and I
worked-through several different scenarios where we could surprise our mutual
good friend, the owner of 3.5 #2. Since
we had to wait a few months for our owner friend to be available anyway, we
decided the reveal of magazine #2 would be at the large gun show in Reno where
we would all be together along with other collector friends.
Almost
three months after acquiring magazine #2, it was finally reunited with pistol
3.5 #2. For the reveal event in Reno at
the show tables of other good friends, we initiated a discussion of the
production peculiarities of the earliest Tokyo magazines (no inspection mark
and odd base/body alignment). We had
asked (more accurately, insisted) our owner friend bring pistol #2 to the show,
and we used that pistol and its magazine as a reference in our discussion. Previous to this
discussion, the second magazine #2 had been inserted into a Tokyo pistol
located in our mutual friends’ show case. During the magazine specifics discussion, we
asked our owner friend to retrieve the pistol in the case to compare its
magazine construction specifics. All of
us were watching closely to see his reactions as he removed the second magazine
#2. First, he seemed puzzled (he told us
later that his first thought was that we’d
somehow put his magazine #2 into that pistol to play a joke on him). Then, he seemed confused as he reached for
his pistol #2 to inspect its magazine.
He looked puzzled as he stared at the two magazines together. He grabbed a loupe to closely view the
magazine markings and then just stared at us with a disbelieving look. Seeing our smiles and hearing our
congratulatory comments, he then knew his suspicions were correct that his
second matching magazine was in his hands.
A range of emotions ensued, and it was a heartfelt moment for “T. J.” and for all of us. Now, “T.” knew why “R.” and
I had wanted him to bring Type 14 Nambu 3.5 #2 to the gun show. For us all, this whole event and moment among
friends will be long-remembered.
The two
original matching magazines were together with pistol Tokyo 3.5 #2 for the
first time in at least 76 years (probably many more years for the newly-found
magazine). During later inspection of
the two magazines, it was noticed that the two magazine slider buttons did not
fully-match their respective magazine – they had been
swapped at their original assembly in May 1928 – the
primary magazine’s slider has a “dot,” and the secondary magazine’s slider
“dot” is missing. These two magazines truly are a matched pair.
|
Star and Cast |
|
Contemplation
– Is
This Real? |
|
Suspicions Being Confirmed |
Conspirators And Victim – Friends All
DL & DL, TJ, WM & SM, RC