In today's domestic anti-war film and television works, you rarely see the Southern 94-type pistol used by the Japanese army in World War II. The last time I saw it on screen was in the American film "Letter from Ruhu Huang Island", and at that time I was amazed by the professionalism of the American film prop industry, because this pistol is not easy to find today. When you see the shape of the Southern Nine-Four, you will not forget it. Because its appearance has always been known for its ugliness, some Western gun collectors even call it the ugliest pistol in the world, which is not an exaggeration.
I was surprised to see the Southern Type 94 pistol in "Letter from Ryuhuang Island". This shows the rigor of american war movies in the use of props, and many officers in the late World War II were equipped with southern Type 94 semi-automatic pistols with poor craftsmanship and materials.
In addition to being ugly, its performance is also quite bad. Like the Wang Eight Boxes, the Minami 94 pistol was designed by Kijiro Nambu (1869-1949), who is sometimes hailed as the Browning of Japan, but he really should not have such a lofty title if judged by his works. Browning's designs have long been known for their simple and robust structure, while the southern works are more complex and poorly performed.
Close-ups of the two sides of the southern Type 94 pistol show that its materials and surface processing technology are not good, because since the real beginning of the Pacific, Japan's strategic resources have been in short supply, and the more late in the war, the more stretched it is, and everything can only be simplified.
After retiring from the army in 1924, Minami Kirjiro founded the Minami Rifle Manufacturing Company, specializing in the manufacture of weapons such as the Minami Fourteen pistol. The following year, the Southern Fourteen pistol became the Standard Japanese Pistol. Although widely used, complaints about the Southern Fourteen rolled in, mainly because the gun was oversized and overweight. In view of this, in 1934, at the request of the military, Minami Kirjiro began to design a smaller 8 mm pistol, which was mainly used to equip Japanese pilots and tankers. The military requires that the new gun be inexpensive, easy to manufacture, and capable of firing standard 8mm pistol cartridges. After some work, The final design of Nanbu Kirjiro was finalized in 1934, the year of 2594 AD of the Shinbu Era in Japan, hence the designation of the Minami Type 94 pistol.
The southern ninety-four type is equipped with a leather holster. In fact, by the end of the war, Japan even had a tight leather for making gun holsters, and could only be made of canvas. It is said that in the final stages of the war, pulp casting gun holsters were introduced.
No matter from which angle you look at it, the Southern Ninety-Four Style has nothing to do with beauty.
The Southern Type 94 pistol weighs 765 grams and uses a similar drop-locking method to the Mauser M1896 pistol, with a reciprocating sleeve, but the bolt is partially free-standing. The southern Type 94 grip is the most bizarre design, I really don't know how comfortable it is to hold such a pistol (possibly because of the small size of the Japanese soldiers), and the magazine inside the grip can hold 6 rounds.
The biggest hidden danger of the Southern Type 94 pistol is that the insurance design is not reasonable, which may be a compromise to simplify manufacturing. The safety barrier iron, located above the left side of the gun, could fire the pistol with minimal pressure, meaning that the southern Type 94, which was full of ammunition, could go off even in a holster. Because of this, like many Japanese military pistols at the time, the southern part of 1994 was carried empty-chambered for most of the year. Because at that time, most of the Japanese personnel who issued pistols were tank soldiers and flying personnel, except for officers and non-commissioned officers, and the possibility of using pistols inside tanks and in the cockpit of aircraft was small. It doesn't matter if it's empty.
The Southern Ninety-Four Semi-Automatic Pistol in the Collection of the American Museum
The southern ninety-four pistol of the bolt pull-back state
After the Southern 94 was put into production, because of its compact structure, small appearance and light weight, the Southern 94 pistol was popular with the troops - perhaps the Japanese army did not have high requirements for aesthetics. In fact, if we talk about power, the Southern 94th Type can not be compared with the 9 mm Ruger, the 11.43 mm Colt M1911 and the 7.62 mm TT-33, but it still served in the Japanese army for many years and was still used for a considerable period of time after the war. The reason for this is related to the combat consciousness of the Japanese army, which does not really regard the pistol as a weapon of war, but only a symbol of rank, or a suicide tool to avoid being captured after defeat. In fact, most Japanese officers and even non-commissioned officers are willing to carry traditional samurai sabers into the battlefield, and some officers carry even centuries-old family knives, and there are not many pistols.
The Southern Type 94 pistol is equipped with an 8 mm pistol cartridge
The southern ninety-four type in the holding state can be seen that its shape is still compact, which may also be the biggest advantage of the gun.