[QUOTEJapanese weapons could often be dangerous to the user as well as the enemy: the Nambu pistol sometimes had a habit of exploding in the shooter's hand. Then there was the Type 92 machine gun: used 30-round strips instead of belts, and was so heavy it took four men to carry the weapon on its tripod. This was the MG that Marines called "The Woodpecker" because of its sound when fired.[/QUOTE]
There are two Nambu pistols, The Taisho 04 is the early version (1915), its basically a version of the Italian Glisenti pistol. The major defect of this design is that it is possible assemble the pistol without the breechblock in place, making it a fun pistol to fire, NOT! It also has a small diameter recoil spring in a recess on one side of the slide,which gives the 04 a rather lumpy appearance. A last defect is a weak striker spring which lost its temper and gave lighter blows, leading to an excessive number of misfires. So severe is the problem, that the issue holster has a pocket for a spare striker spring.
The second Nambu is the Taisho 14, dating back to 1925 and designed to be a more easily manufactured version. It adds a safety catch on the off side and adds a second recoil spring on the opposite side of the pistol. Nothing was done to replace/improve the striker spring. Once the last shot was fired, the bolt is held open by abutting against the magazine platform. The pressure of two recoil springs, plus a strong magazine retaining spring makes replacing the empty magazine, very difficult. If the fingers are slippery with oil, perspiration and if the gun is dirty, it becomes almost impossible to change mags quickly.
The Type 92 is a copy of the Hotchkiss 1914 machine gun, like all Hotchkiss designs, the weapon is on the heavy side. The 92 weighs in at 61 pounds (122 pounds with tripod). The only difference in the operating systems is that the 92 has a slight change in the connection between the gas piston and breechblock to allow it to better use the 6.5mm cartridge, because of this alteration the extraction is violent, leading to ruptured cases and the cartridges are normally oiled before loading, leading in turn to all sorts of dirt and debris getting fed into the chamber and causing jams/misfires. By 1932, the Japanese moved the caliber up to 7.7mm, adding a flash hider and changing the firing grip.
The Type 92 tripod was always designed to be carried by three men, a short pole would be inserted into the tubes on the front of the forward legs, and a rather off yoke, resembling overgrown bicycle handlebars would be attached to the rear leg, allowing the crew to move the Type 92 rapidly about the battlefield without dismounting it from the tripod.
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