CODE – 02-062-944

NAME – Type 100 (1944 Pattern)

NAME (NATIVE) – 100 Shiki Kikan-tanju

COUNTRY OF COMMON NAMES – Type 100/44, Type 100 (Simplified)

ORIGIN – Imperial Japan

DATE OF MANUFACTURE – 1944-1945

CALIBER – 8×22 mm (8mm Japanese, 8mm Nambu)

OVERALL LENGTH – 90 cm (36 in)

BARREL LENGTH – 23.4 cm (9.2 in)

RIFLING (TYPE & TWIST) – 6 groove, Right hand twist, 1 turn in (7.88 in)

BULLET DIAMETER – 8.13 mm (0.320 in)

BULLET WEIGHT – 7 g (107 gr)

MUZZLE VELOCITY – 335 m/s (1100 fps)

MUZZLE ENERGY – 390 j (288 ft/lb)

WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 3.86 kg (8 lb 8 oz)

WEIGHT (LOADED) – 4.41 kg (9 lb 11.2 oz)

SIGHTS – Front sight – Blade, Rear sight – aperture, set at 100 meters

EFFECTIVE RANGE – 200 m (220 yds)

OPERATION – Blowback

TYPE OF FIRE – Full automatic

RATE OF FIRE – 120 rpm

CYCLIC ROF – 800 rpm

FEED DEVICE – 30 round curved box magazine, double column, double feed

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (EMPTY) – 0.20 kg (7 oz)

FEED DEVICE WEIGHT (LOADED) – 0.55 kg (1 lb 3.2 oz)

BASIC AMMUNITION LOAD – 5 magazines (150 rounds)

LOAD WEIGHT – 2.75 kg (6 lb 1 oz)

MANUFACTURER – Nagoya Arsenal, Japan

STATUS – Obsolete

SERVICE – Japanese military, Guerrilla and Revolutionary use throughout Asia into the 1960s, dependent on availability of ammunition

     This was the last submachinegun produced by Imperial Japan. As it was adopted late in the war, manufacturing methods had suffered and the finish of the weapon was poor including many welds being in evidence. The original model, the Type 100, was first tested by the Imperial Army in 1939 and adopted in 1940. Low priorities and other roadblocks prevented that weapon from going in to full production until 1942. The numbers produced of all of the Type 100 submachineguns were relatively small when compared to other Japanese small arms. About 8,300 specimens of the Type 100/44 were reportedly produced before the end of WWII out of the approximately maximum of 20,000 total production of the Type 100 models.

   For the Type 100/44, the weapon was simplified to both ease manufacture as well as use fewer critical materials. The cyclic rate of fire was nearly doubled from that of the two earlier patterns, intended to make it slightly easier to engage a fleeting target in the jungle. The bayonet mounting for the Type 30 bayonet was included in the Type 100/44, but it had been simplified to just being a lug mounted on the barrel jacket, the ring of the bayonet slipping over the muzzle of the submachinegun

 

A late war production Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The weapon was simplified and improved from the 1940 version. The basic weapon is roughly made with a large number of welds and other quick-production techniques employed in its construction. The cocking handle is a simple cylinder and the large bayonet mount under the barrel has been replaced with a simple lug. TO account for change in the bayonet mounting, there is a small, round protrusion at the end of the compensator. The compensator has also been modified with a single hold drilled into the left side of the compensator while there is a double-wide hole on the right side. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
A late war production Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The weapon was simplified and improved from the 1940 version. The basic weapon is roughly made with a large number of welds and other quick-production techniques employed in its construction. The cocking handle is a simple cylinder and the large bayonet mount under the barrel has been replaced with a simple lug. TO account for change in the bayonet mounting, there is a small, round protrusion at the end of the compensator. The compensator has also been modified with a single hold drilled into the left side of the compensator while there is a double-wide hole on the right side. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
An upper right side view looking down at the Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The curved magazine, required to properly feed the very tapered 8mm Nambu round) can be seen extending out from the left-side magazine well. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
An upper right side view looking down at the Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The curved magazine, required to properly feed the very tapered 8mm Nambu round) can be seen extending out from the left-side magazine well. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
Looking down from the top of the Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The side-mounted curved magazine can be seen plainly in this illustration. The rear sight is a simple lug welded on to the rear of the receiver and having a notch cut into it. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
Looking down from the top of the Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The side-mounted curved magazine can be seen plainly in this illustration. The rear sight is a simple lug welded on to the rear of the receiver and having a notch cut into it. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
The left side of a Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The forward slanted magazine well is shown holding the curved 30-round magazine. The cocking knob sticking up from the bolt can be seen as little more than a knurled cylinder as compared to the curved machined version of the Type 100 (1940). The wood and general construction of the weapon is crude, but it is functional for its purpose. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army
The left side of a Japanese Type 100 (1944) submachinegun. The forward slanted magazine well is shown holding the curved 30-round magazine. The cocking knob sticking up from the bolt can be seen as little more than a knurled cylinder as compared to the curved machined version of the Type 100 (1940). The wood and general construction of the weapon is crude, but it is functional for its purpose. PHOTO CREDIT: US Army