imported>Meeepmep: Type 2 is an improved version of the Type 1 designed by Shikanosuke Tokunaga according to Japanese weapons historian Shigeo Sugawa

2025-04-28T00:10:19Z

Type 2 is an improved version of the Type 1 designed by Shikanosuke Tokunaga according to Japanese weapons historian Shigeo Sugawa

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{{short description|Japanese submachine gun}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name = Experimental Model 2 submachine gun
| image = File:Japanese smg prototype.jpg
| caption =
| origin = [[Empire of Japan]]
| type = [[Submachine gun]]
| is_ranged = yes
| service = 1935–1945 (Japan)
| used_by = [[Imperial Japanese Army]]
| wars = [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] [[World War II]] [[Chinese Civil War]]<ref name="Mukden Arsenal After WWII" />
| designer = Shikanosuke Tokunaga [[Kijiro Nambu]]
| design_date = 1935
| manufacturer = [[Kijirō Nambu|Nambu]]
| number = 50–150
| variants = Mukden Type 2
| weight = {{convert|3.37|kg|lboz|abbr=on}} empty {{convert|4.39|kg|lboz|abbr=on}} loaded
| length = 896 mm (35 in)
| part_length = 228 mm (9 in)
| cartridge = [[8×22mm Nambu]] [[.45 ACP]] (Mukden Type 2)
| caliber = 8 mm 11.5mm (Mukden Type 2)
| action = [[blowback (firearms)|Blowback]]
| rate = 600 rounds/min
| velocity =
| range =
| max_range =
| feed = 30 and 50 round box [[Magazine (firearm)|magazine]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dragonsoffire.com/Type-II--Model-A.php |title= Type II Model A |website=Dragons of Fire |access-date=2009-04-02 |archive-date=2020-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007173002/http://www.dragonsoffire.com/Type-II--Model-A.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| sights = [[Iron sights]]
}}

The {{nihongo|'''Experimental Model 2 submachine gun'''|試製二型機関短銃|Shisei-ni-gata kikan-tanjū}} was a pre–[[World War II]] Japanese experimental [[submachine gun]] chambered in the [[8mm Nambu]] round.

== History ==
The Type 2 model was a development from the earlier Type 1 submachine gun, designed in response to criticisms of the former’s awkward ergonomics. The new model offered a more conventional [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]] feed and [[Stock (firearms)|stock]], but wholly retained the Type 1's method of operation and was essentially the same gun in a different body. It was initially produced in the mid-1930s, tested by the [[Imperial Japanese Army]], but got rejected.
[[File:Mukden model2.jpg|thumb|A Mukden Type 2 in the [[Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution]]]]
During World War II, an urgent demand for automatic infantry weapons saw the revival of several experimental weapon projects, including the Type 2 submachine gun. Blueprints of the weapon were sent to the [[Mukden Arsenal]] in [[Manchukuo]] in 1944 for use in development of cheap submachine guns. However, those blueprints were used by the [[Communist-controlled China (1927–1949)|Chinese communists]] to produce submachine guns that were later used in the [[Chinese Civil War]] which followed the end of the war with Japan and communist control over Mukden. These weapons were operationally identical but chambered in [[.45 ACP]] rather than 8×22mm Nambu.<ref name="Mukden Arsenal After WWII">{{Cite web|url=https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/mukden-arsenal-after-wwii/|title = Mukden Arsenal after WWII|date = 3 April 2017}}</ref>

The [[British Army|British]] and [[United States Army|US armies]] studied examples of the earlier Japanese prototypes obtained in [[Japanese occupation of Singapore|Singapore]] and Japan after the [[surrender of Japan]] in the war.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/ModelIISMG/Japanese%208mm%20SMG%20report.PDF |title = C. I. S. A. Technical Report No. J-28 on 8 M/M Unknown Type Japanese Machine Carbine. |author = |date = 8 April 1946}}</ref> There is at least one surviving example of the Type 2 at the [[United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility|Army Ordnance Museum]], previously located at the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=須川 |first=薫雄 |title=5-1 、試製短機関銃 |url=https://www.xn--u9j370humdba539qcybpym.jp/part1/archives/182 |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=日本の武器兵器 |language=ja}}</ref>

== Design details ==
The Type 2 was a [[blowback-operated]] submachine gun that fired from an open [[Bolt (firearms)|bolt]]. Much like the Type 1, the Type 2's return spring enveloped the barrel of the gun rather than behind the bolt. The front section of the [[Receiver (firearms)|receiver]] and [[Barrel (firearm)|barrel]] shroud would travel forward with the bolt upon firing and be pushed back by the return spring. The barrel stayed stationary. The [[cocking handle]] was not located in a slotted groove but instead took the form of a protruding tab fixed to the left side of the receiver.

Early pre-war prototypes of the Type 2 were built with the same pneumatic buffer device seen on the Type 1, which cushioned the action of the gun and acted as a bolt delay. The timing of the delay could be adjusted by changing the air pressure exerted by the buffer, thus lowering or increasing the [[Rate of fire|fire rate]] to either 500 or 600 rounds per minute, but the examples captured after the war had five buffer holes as settings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/japanese-model-ii-type-a/ |title = Japanese Model II Type A| date=17 October 2012 }}</ref> This was done by turning a pressure valve located underneath the rear cap. The later wartime models omitted the air buffer feature in an attempt to cut production costs. The Type 2 was typically issued with 30-round magazines, although it could also use the same 50-round magazines just like the Type 1.<ref>''Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns'', David Miller, 2002{{page number needed|date=September 2024}}</ref>

Late-war examples of the Type 2 had bayonet fittings, a feature not present on the original production models. A spike [[bayonet]] was also designed for the gun but was not used on the production models. The finish of the late-war models was typically poor compared to the earlier pre-war prototypes.

=== 1934 Model 2A ===
Version chambered in the more powerful [[6.5×50mmSR_Arisaka#Type_95_6.5x30mm|Type 95 6.5x30mm]] cartridge, it weighed 7-7,5 grams and generated muzzle velocities between 550-600 m/s resulting in muzzle energy between 1058.75-1350 J.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nambu Type 2 |url=http://firearms.96.lt/pages/Nambu%20Type%202.html |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=firearms.96.lt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213225957/http://firearms.96.lt/pages/Nambu%20Type%202.html |archive-date=2024-02-13 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-12 |title=Упорство, достойное лучшего применения {{!}} Warspot.ru |url=https://warspot.ru/12128-uporstvo-dostoynoe-luchshego-primeneniya |access-date=2024-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812192440/https://warspot.ru/12128-uporstvo-dostoynoe-luchshego-primeneniya |archive-date=2019-08-12 }}</ref>

=== 1942 Model 2A ===
Version chambered in [[8×22mm Nambu]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-19 |title=Japanese Model II Type A SMG |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/japanese-model-ii-a-smg/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019173348/https://www.forgottenweapons.com/japanese-model-ii-a-smg/ |archive-date=2012-10-19 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=C. I. S. A. TECHNICAL REPORT NO. J-28 ON 8 M/M UNKNOWN TYPE JAPANESE MACHINE CARBINE |url=http://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/ModelIISMG/Japanese%208mm%20SMG%20report.PDF |access-date=2024-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317030354/http://www.forgottenweapons.com/wp-content/uploads/ModelIISMG/Japanese%208mm%20SMG%20report.PDF |archive-date=2013-03-17 }}</ref>

=== Mukden Type 2 ===
A variant developed by Chinese communist forces using blueprints originally sent to the Mukden Arsenal in [[Manchukuo]] in 1944. Adapted to chamber [[.45 ACP]] instead of 8×22mm Nambu and used in the [[Chinese Civil War]]. It featured several superficial design changes, such as a different stock, foreend, and bolt handle design. However, mechanically, it was identical to the Japanese Model 2A.

==See also==
* [[List of submachine guns]]
* [[List of World War II infantry weapons]]
* [[List of Japanese military equipment of World War II]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chris Bishop et al. ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''. Brown Books, 1998.

{{Japanese WWII infantry weapons}}

[[Category:8×22mm Nambu submachine guns]]
[[Category:Submachine guns of Japan]]
[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1935]]
[[Category:World War II infantry weapons of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II submachine guns]]

Experimental Model 2 submachine gun - Revision history

imported>Meeepmep: Type 2 is an improved version of the Type 1 designed by Shikanosuke Tokunaga according to Japanese weapons historian Shigeo Sugawa