Type 100 submachine gun
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| 100 Shiki Kikan-tanju | |
|---|---|
 Type 100/2 |
|
| Type | Submachine gun |
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942 - 1945 |
| Used by | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Wars | Second Sino-Japanese War, Second World War |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1939 |
| Produced | 1942 - 1945 |
| Variants | Type 100/1 (with solid stock) Type 100/1 (with folding stock) Type 100/2 (with solid stock & flash suppressor) |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.38 kg (Empty)/4,40 kg (loaded) |
| Length | 900 mm |
| Barrel length | 228 mm |
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|
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| Cartridge | 8 x 22 mm Nambu |
| Caliber | 8 mm |
| Action | blowback |
| Rate of fire | 800 round/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 335 m/s |
| Feed system | 30-round detachable box magazine |
The Type 100 (一〇〇式機関短銃 Hyaku-shiki kikan-tanju) was a Japanese submachine gun used during World War II, and the only submachine gun produced by Japan in any quantity.
Designed and built by the Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company, the Type 100 was a robust, if unremarkable, submachine gun that was first delivered to the Imperial Army in 1942. Japan was surprisingly late to introduce the submachine gun to its armed forces; the MP40 had been ubiquitous in the Wehrmacht since 1939.
The Type 100 was a well made gun, albeit with several strange features, including a complicated ammunition feed device that, for safety purposes, ensured that a round was completely chambered before firing, a complex system compounded by the curious bottle shaped round the Type 100 used. Atypically for a submachine gun, a bayonet lug was fixed under the barrel.
Despite its shortcomings and complexities, the Type 100 featured sophisticated sights and a high quality chrome plated barrel to aid cleaning and reduce wear. Some models also featured a bipod or a complicated muzzle brake.
A number of Type 100 variants were produced during the course of the war; one with a folding stock and another that could be disassembled and stored in a pouch worn on the front of the torso for paratroopers (few with the folding stock were made as it weakened the weapon's structure in combat situations) and a 1944 version that was greatly simplified in order to hasten production at a time when Japan was being pushed into retreat across the Pacific theatre and demand for submachine guns was at an all time high. The 1944 variant was slightly longer, featured simple iron sights. Corners were cut in production, leaving many Type 100s with roughly finished stocks and poorly welded parts.
Despite these simplifications, Japan lacked the industrial infrastructure to produce sufficient quantities of the Type 100 to stem the rapid Allied advance. By 1945, 30,000 had been built, a comparatively low number to the 1,300,000 plus Thompson submachine guns built by the US.
[edit] See also
[edit] Reference
- Chris Bishop et al. The Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. Brown Books, 1998.
[edit] See also
| Japanese infantry weapons of World War II |
|---|
| Side-arms |
| Type 26 Revolver | Nambu Type 1 | Nambu Type 14 | Type 94 |
| Rifles & carbines |
| Type 38 | Type 38 Cavalry Carbine | Type 44 Cavalry Carbine | Type 97 Sniper Rifle | Type 99 |
| Submachine guns |
| Type 100 |
| Machine-guns |
| Type 11 Light Machine Gun | Type 96 Light Machine Gun | Type 97 Light Machine Gun | Type 99 Light Machine Gun Type 1 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 3 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 4 Heavy Machine Gun | Type 92 Heavy Machine Gun |
| Support weapons |
| Type 93 and 100 flamethrowers | Type 10 Grenade Discharger | Type 89 Grenade Discharger | Type 97 20 mm AT Rifle |
