POTD: A Door Hinge? – Japanese Type 1 Paratrooper
Sam.S 12.23.22
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a really cool and crude Japanese Paratrooper rifle. This is what is considered the Japanese Type 1 Paratrooper rifle made from a Type 38 rifle. These came about after Japanese paratroopers were dropped into various conflicts and battles and their weapons would drop separately, stored in a container or pod. This was cumbersome since the pods had a tendency of dropping far away from the soldiers which would leave them to fend for themselves with handguns, knives, and even grenades. Various prototypes of paratrooper rifles would come about but one of the most common was the Type 1 Paratrooper rifle. It was a normal Type 38 but the wrist of the stock was cut through and a hinge system was put over the seam. This would allow the user to fold the gun in half and tote it easier than if it was a full-size rifle.
“The right side of the stock has the simple hinge like mechanism secured to the stock with wood screws. The stock swings to the right for storage. The left side has the heavier simple hinge locking latch, also secured to the stock with wood screws, and a stud and a wing nut lock on the left side to secure the stock in the open/locked position. The whole assembly proved to be a terrible design as it was very weak and fragile with the stock usually split up the middle behind the receiver, rendering the carbine useless. It was soon dropped from production after a few thousand were made with most being reconverted back into the standard Type 38 carbine.”
Lot 477: Nagoya – Type 1 Paratrooper Rifle – Rare Japanese Nagoya Arsenal Type 1 Folding Stock Paratrooper Carbine with Matching Dust Cover. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved December 22, 2022, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/73/477/nagoya-type-1-paratrooper-rifle.
