SERVICE – Japanese military, primarily the Imperial Japanese Navy for their Marine Paratroops. Guerrilla and Revolutionary use throughout Asia into the 1960s, dependent on availability of ammunition
This is a folding stick version of the Type 100 submachinegun, intended to be slightly lighter but more compact than the original weapon. The Airborne units that were intended to receive this weapon were members of the Japanese Navy’s Marines Paratroops. An unusual feature of the original Type 100 and the Paratrooper version is the thick cylinder underneath the barrel. The cylinder is provided as the mount for the Japanese Type 30 bayonet. The bayonet was the standard version issued throughout the Japanese military. It weighed 0.70 kg (1lb 8.7 oz) had an overall length of 51.4 cm (20.24 in) and a blade 40 cm (15.75 in) long. Mounting the bayonet underneath the barrel made the weapon 124.5 cm (49 in) long. One complaint from the troops who used this weapon was that the folding stock made the submachinegun too weak for hand-to-hand combat as it would break if the target was struck with the butt.