COMMON NAMES – Self-acting Pistol Type B (Marketing Name)
TYPE – Semiautomatic pistol
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN – Japan
DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1934
CALIBER – 8×22 mm (8mm Japanese, 8mm Nambu)
OVERALL LENGTH – 18.3 cm (7.2 in)
BARREL LENGTH – 9.7 cm (3.8 in)
RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 6 groove, Right hand twist, 1 turn in 29 cm (11.5 in)
BULLET DIAMETER – 8.13 mm (0.320 in)
BULLET WEIGHT – 7 g (107 gr)
MUZZLE VELOCITY – (900 fps)
MUZZLE ENERGY – 261 j (192 ft/lb)
WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.71 kg (1 lb 9 oz)
WEIGHT (LOADED) – 0.86 kg (1 lb 14.3 oz) with six rounds
SIGHTS – Fixed, open iron, Front sight – Inverted V blade, Rear sight – Square notch
EFFECTIVE RANGE – 15.5 m (17 yards)
OPERATION – Short recoil, Single action
TYPE OF FIRE – Semiautomatic
RATE OF FIRE – 24 rpm
FEED DEVICE – 6-round removable box magazine, Single column, Single feed
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.08 kg (2.8 oz)
FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – 0.15 kg (5.1 oz)
BASIC AMMUNITION LOAD – two 6-round magazines (12 rounds)
LOAD WEIGHT – 0.30 kg (11.3 oz)
MANUFACTURER – Nagoya Rikugun Zoheisho, Nambu Seisakusho [Nagoya Army Ordnance; Nambu Factory]
STATUS – Obsolete
SERVICE –Service with Imperial Japanese Ground (Armored) and Air Force units, Pre-WWII commercial sales and export
This weapon was named for being developed in 1934, what is considered the 2594th Year of the Jummu nengo calendar, which counts time from the reign of the First Emperor of Japan. It is a semiautomatic weapon of very questionable design. The grip of the Type 94 is considered very small by Western standards and the overall size is smaller than the size of the Nambu Type 1904 or Type 14. The size of the grip also limits the number of rounds that can go in the magazine to six rounds. However, it is this smaller overall size that gave the Type 94 its appeal to aircraft and armored vehicle crews since their operating space it at a premium. There were both a magazine and external safety in the design of the weapon. The external safety was placed in a much better position that earlier Japanese handguns being above and behind the left side of the pistol grip, where it can be operated by the thumb of the firing hand. The external safety was known to fail so the only way to safely transport the weapon was with an empty chamber. The safeties of the weapon were not considered as positive an aspect as on other sidearms. On the left side of the Type 94 can be seen the sear bar that connects the trigger to the striker than fires the chambered round. Pressure on the forward end of the external sear bar, sufficient to only move it bay 2 millimeters, can cause the weapon to fire. Additionally, the disconnector is not a proper design and the weapon can fire out-of-battery with the trigger pulled and another round being fed into the barrel. There was no slide stop on the Type 94. When the magazine was empty, the slide was held open by the follower in the magazine. The strength of the mainspring and small size of the magazine baseplate could easily require both hands to remove the empty magazine before reloading the weapon. The Type 94 was referred to as the “Suicide Gun” and “Surrender Special” by American forces from the way the weapon could be fired without being held by the grip.
