Doctor and Historian Martin Morgan takes a look at some of our exceptional Japanese Type 99 rifles. Join him as he explains the intricacies and unique differences between models made over time.
The anti-aircraft sights were designed against 1920s-30s plane technology in mind. Some people think that it is ridiculous for the Japanese to think they could shoot down faster flying and more armored planes in 1944-45. It's possible that they were effective against old Chinese planes in the 30s that is why they kept them.
plus even w/ faster ones you could possibly use em if at the proper angle so the plane transits relatively slowly compared to the shooter but they just didnt find that any better than shooting at the slowest relative speed of straight on
I have a last ditch type 99. I was amazed at the crude milling on the barrel. No attempt was made to smooth the lathe tooling marks. Thanks for the info
the very latest model shown still has it's finger groove in the stock, which is not common for that time. The finger groove was largely eliminated as well to save manufacturing steps.
According to several US Army studies on the distances US troops shot at the enemy almost none of the shooting was farther than 300 yards and sights were almost never adjusted in combat. So the "last ditch" rifle didn't really sacrifice any features that mattered, it was all very close typically well within 200 yards. Probably the most substantial difference with the last-ditch is the loss of the upper handguard which meant nothing stopped a heat mirage forming on the top of the barrel. This is a standard feature on German Mauser rifles and modern Mauser shooters hate it, very often you'll see them with film heat shields on top of the barrel.
As others have said, excellent presentation, succinct, and to the point. One bit of added information is not all T99 manufacturers switched to the rough, cast bolt handle. The Kokura Arsenal, and its affiliated subcontractor Toyo Kogyo, retained the plum shaped handle through the end of their production.
Very nice video. Appreciated your comments and visuals of the differences between the rifles as the war progressed. I recently acquired an early war Type 99 short rifle.
Have been to your store 100's of times over the years, but hadn't known about your move until I showed up at the location of the old store and nobody home lol
Enjoyed your presentation, Marty. The transition in quality attributes and construction of the Type 99 from the long rifle to the so-called "last ditch" rifles of late 1944 and 1945 is clear and unequivocal. Shortages of strategic materials, loss of production factories and equipment, loss of skilled machinists and trained factory personnel, the time crunch to produce numbers to replace rifles lost in combat, production of large numbers to arm the general population, etc, were significant factors causing the transition from top quality to just-good-enough. Similar to the transition in quality of the rifles of Nazi Germany from the quality K98k of 1939 to the Kriegsmodell and Volkssturmgewehr of 1945. Same challenges to the economy and production infrastructure.
My dad sent one home from Iwo Jima. Early short I believe. It has everything on it. One thing it has that I have never seen in a video is a light tan hard plastic barrel protector that slides on end of barrel and then you twist it so part of it hooks behind the sight to keep it on. I researched all the numbers and symbols on it. Down to the factory and then the factory that factory subbed it out to.
Very helpful video. I am trying to learn more about my type 99 Naval Special I inherited. I believe its serial # is in the mid 900's. Any links to articles or videos specifically about this rare variant would be appreciated.
have a relatively early 99 complete except for ground mum and wire-pod ... and a seemingly late war that never had either mum nor 99type and fr ears clipped but still the plum knob and ladder sight (sporterized in a nice walnut but homemade stock and Im told rechambered to 300sav)
My stepfather had an early war long rifle Type 99 when I was a kid. It fired well and was pretty accurate. One of his "friends" stole it when he passed away. I found a last ditch Type 99 at a gun show a few years ago. It bought it for $25 because the guy selling it inherited it from an uncle who was a WW2 veteran who passed away and didn't know what it was. I read in a book about historical firearms that the last ditch rifles had a tendency of catastrophic failure resulting in user injuries and/or death due to the use of lower grade materials. Every time I fire it I tend to flinch a little because of that.
The last ditch rifles are actually fine to shoot. They got a bad name because of the Japanese trainer rifles. They were coverted and were not to be shot but some of bring backs were trainers and guys used real ammo in them. Thats where the myth came from.
If there are any that are problematic its going to be the last ditch, wouldn't surprise me if a few were not made right with all the chaos going on. The one I got didn't even really work, bolt face was so rough it couldn't feed cartridges. Wouldnt be the craziest thing that during a B29 raid or P51s strafing the factory a few weren't heat treated or head spaced right. Pure speculation on my part. Could be they got every one perfect in their societal collapse
I have a difference of opinion. The Japanese type 99 although a good solid accurate rifle is too me and this opinion only not equal to the Mauser the Germans had and used. I actually think the Type 99 is a crude copy of the Mauser action. The Mauser is a fine very accurate rifle. I would love to see a comparison of the two d Side by side.
It gets more difficult to get ammo year by year. It's pretty scarce to find even 6.5 Jap for my Type 38 nowadays. They can be found, but it is just not quite as easy as it was 20 years ago.
Just by looking at the "Last Ditch" rifles that were fielded to Japanese troops by the end of the war, you can't tell me that they were going to be able to arm every man, woman, and child in the name of defense of the island. Baloney. There is just no way they could have done that if the "Last Ditch" rifles which included many compromises just to get rifles into the hands of regular troops.
