The Japanese 7.7mm Type 99 took after its predecessor the 6.5mm Type 96, both machine guns forming the basis of mobile fire support during the Second World War. Type 99 was a magazine fed, gas operated, light machine gun with a removable barrel that began production in 1941 and continuing until the [Read More…]
The Czech ZB30 was probably one of the better light machine gun designs that saw extensive use during the Second World War. Nations such as Japan and Britain copied aspects of it in the Bren and Japanese Type 99 LMG. It was also license-produced in some other countries as well. It was a top mounted [Read More…]
Japanese newspaper called The Mainichi reports that a large cache of buried WW2 firearms and edged weapons was found during construction works near a Tokyo elementary school. Estimated 1,400 firearms (or rather what is left of these guns), 1,200 bayonets (maybe also [Read More…]
Commemorative Air Force (CAF) has squadrons around the United States dedicated to preserving and flying warbirds. Manned by volunteers and funded by donations, they bring many iconic WWII aircraft into flight worthy conditions for air shows and rides. The author had an [Read More…]
A group of Chinese military armament enthusiast made a full-size (1:1 scale) Chinese Type 99 tank model using cartridge cases of different sizes and types. They used almost 50,000 cases (48,356 to be precise) and made this fascinating replica. Once the job was done, [Read More…]
The nations engaged in World War II all fielded one or more main infantry rifle, and in this episode of TFBTV, we take a look at five that we believe to be the best. Remember this is a list of rifles, so submachineguns, machine guns, assault rifles, and so on are not included. Transcript … [Read More…]
The Arisaka Type 99 rifle in 7.7 Japanese was distributed to the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II, but it never quite phased out the old Type 38 rifle in 6.5 caliber. This light, short rifle is equipped with a number of odd features that are sure to raise an eyebrow or two at [Read More…]
(This is Part 2 of the TFB Rifle Weight Omnibus. You can read Part 1 here.) In October, I traveled out to see my co-writer Alex C. to collect data on the weights of different long guns and some of their components. Over that weekend, I weighed 58 rifles and submachine [Read More…]
For today’s Friday Field Strip, we’re looking at the Japanese Type 99, a rifle with more than meets the eye. The Type 99, commonly but somewhat erroneously called the “Arisaka”, is a rifle that was once widely known as a crude, last ditch weapon of the Japanese Empire, but [Read More…]
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