Hello everyone! This will be a shorter suggestion from myself today, as I won’t go too in depth with the overarching History of the Nambu Pistol and it’s development.
In stating such, I will briefly cover the original 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A “Grandpa Nambu” followed by a brief segment concerning the extremely rare stock bearing variants of the 1906 “Papa Nambu”, AKA Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A.
So without further ado, I present to you the closest thing that can be considered a pistol calibre carbine for Japan. The tentatively named Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine!
Brief History of Nambu Development Lineage
Before I get into the main point of interest being the Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine, I will cover small notable sections of the development history concerning the “Grandpa” & “Papa” Nambu pistols, their stocks and some transitional models.
One significant reason for this is due to the Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine being the only known example of this notable modification of the “Papa” Nambu pistols. Naturally due to the scarcity of available information about it specifically, I will provide some supplementary background details to give the bigger picture.
Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A
Otherwise commonly referred to as the 1902 Nambu “Grandpa” and or “Grandpa Nambu” by English speaking collectors. Was the first successful Japanese designed self-loading handgun originally developed in 1902 by Kijiro Nambu and produced between the years of 1903-1906.
A notable feature of the “Grandpa” Nambu production line was the inclusion of a rear slot within the pistol grip to attach an adjustable shoulder-stock, this feature was applied to every model produced including the Foreign Sales model for Thailand and the “Transitional Model Grandpa”.
The difference from the Original to Transitional Model is changing the magazine bases to aluminium, swivel lanyard loops, revised recoil spring guides, simplified magazine latch assemblies, concave cocking knobs and modified strikers, bolt locks and bolts.
Modified Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A
Otherwise referred to as the “Papa” Nambu Pistol by English collectors, whilst in Japan it was commonly referred to as the “Later Period Nambu Type Automatic Handgun.” It was a revised model of the “Grandpa”, redesigned in 1904 once again by Kijiro Nambu and was produced by Tokyo Arsenal from 1906-1923; Tokyo Gas Electric Co. 1909-1928.
I’ll now list out the revised changes made to the “Papa” Nambu compared to the “Grandpa” Nambu.
- The stock slot was completely eliminated on all “Papa” Nambu Pistols, minus an extremely limited number of special order “Papas”.
- The trigger assembly was replaced with a larger trigger guard along with a modification to the sear bar plunger being extended.
- The trigger was changed with the end of it being square instead of a rounded edge.
- The grip safety was changed in conjunction with the trigger assembly modifications, requiring an elongated grip safety recess.
- The cocking knob became more concaved
- The lanyard loop was standardised as a swivel type.
- The magazine was completely changed with a new design.
- The Magazine latch was redesigned
- The grip strap and butt configuration were changed to accompany the changes to the grip and magazine well.
- The grip panels were revised and reshaped along with changes to the checkering and thickness.
Now to elaborate upon the mention of the “special order Papas” concerning the stock slot. Three standard model Tokyo Arsenal Modified Nambu Automatic Type A Pistols were produced with matching “Grandpa” style large stocks, their serial numbers are as follows: 4556, 4561 & 4692.
Uniquely 4692 is the only one of the three stamped with the Thailand Charka crest. Unfortunately the matching stock for 4692 has been lost to time, but the grip cutout matches reports from the Tokyo Arsenal, assuring this was one of the special order stocked "Papas"
Now to finally mention all the information available and recorded concerning the main topic suggestion.
Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine
Arguably the rarest of all Nambu Pistols and most assuredly the rarest of all produced Modified Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A “Papas” is this extraordinarily unique “carbine” model.
Tentatively named the Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine, it’s serial number is 4552 meaning it came before the three stock bearing Nambu “Papas”, it features a novel and solely unique wood-stock without a telescoping extension and holster recess with checkering on the wrist area and left side of the cheek area.
The pistol features a factory-produced 10.5 inch barrel of larger than standard diameter, fluting towards the base of the barrel has been made as a means to reduce the front weight. The stock also has a swivel that can be combined with the pistol’s lanyard loop for ease of carrying with a sling.
On the bottom of the stock there’s an oval silver monogram plate that is unmarked and the pistol also features unique sights; a longer front sight base and blade, a rear ramp with a unique taper and sight ladder graduations to 300 metres rather than the standard 500 metres.
Additionally the recoil spring is of a different size to compensate for the recoil of a heavier barrel. It’s believed that the carbine may have been intended for hunting purposes due to the lack of army markings but it remains inconclusive.
The Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine, was obtained by a U.S. Army officer in Japan who came across the weapon shortly after the end of WW2.
There remains no information on who originally owned the “carbine” prior to the end of WW2 or who was directly responsible for producing it.
Availability
I believe the available of the weapon should be via an Event or through the Battlepass and it should be categorised as a pistol-calibre carbine in BR1
Gameplay & Purpose
The gameplay and purpose of the weapon will be to have a domestically produced pistol-calibre carbine placing it on par with the other factions in game.
Unlike the other factions the Modified 1902 Nambu Automatic Pistol Type A Carbine lacks a magazine capacity of 20-25 rounds within the magazine. In consideration of this for balance I think it would be fair to adjust its damage up to around 8.0 or potentially somewhat higher.
Naturally balancing should be left up to the community and devs at large so take this with a grain of salt.
Sources
- Yes
- No (if no explain why)
- Event Item
- Battlepass Reward
Remember your vote counts!
Here we are once more at the end of another suggestion. I know this one was a bit shorter than my other suggestions. The main reason for such is that many others on the forum have already made wonderfully detailed suggestions and topics concerning the Nambu pistols, considering such I felt a full comprehensive breakdown of the entire Nambu family would be largely unnecessary for the scope of this suggestion.
I’ll leave a further study for another day and instead bring this concise report to your eyes.
It was an incredible find to discover some semblance of a domestically produced carbine for Japan and I can only hope you enjoyed my suggestion and that it might be added one day.
Nevertheless thank you all for reading and your time.
With much love.
