Type 96 light machine gun

File:IJA defense hill areas2.jpg soldiers firing their Type 96 at positions]]Combat experience in the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and subsequent actions in Manchuria and northern China reaffirmed to the Japanese army the utility of machine guns in providing covering fire for advancing infantry.{{sfn|Mayer|1984|page=53}} The earlier Type 11 light machine gun was a lightweight machine gun, which could be easily transportable by an infantry squad into combat. However, the open hopper design of the Type 11 allowed dust and grit to enter into the gun, which was liable to jam in muddy or dirty conditions due to issues with poor dimensional tolerances.{{cite book |last1=Rottman |first1=Gordon L. |title=Japanese Army in World War II - Conquest of the Pacific 1941-42 |date=2005 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford, England |isbn=1841767891 |page=[https://archive.org/details/japanesearmyworl00rott_833/page/n45 46] |url=https://archive.org/details/japanesearmyworl00rott_833 |url-access=limited}} This gave the weapon a bad reputation with Japanese troops, and led to calls for its redesign.{{sfn|Mayer|1984|page=55}} The Army's Kokura Arsenal tested the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 26 machine gun, samples of which had been captured from the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, and (after borrowing certain elements) issued a new design, designated the Type 96 light machine gun, in 1936.{{sfn|Ness|2014|pages=44−45}} The gun was produced at Kokura, Nagoya Arsenal and Mukden between 1936 and 1943, with a total production run of about 41,000.{{cite web |title=Ground Guns |url=http://www.japaneseweapons.net/kikanjyu/shurui/english01.htm |website=JapaneseWeapons.net |archive-date=2003-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030304180344/http://www.japaneseweapons.net/kikanjyu/shurui/english01.htm}}

According to Rottman, the Type 96 was a slightly modified copy of the ZB vz.26 despite claims to the contrary,{{sfn|Rottman|2013|page=74}} while US military manuals note that the gun combined the features of both the Hotchkiss machine gun and the ZB vs. 26.{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|page=96}} Ness notes that the Type 96 featured a unique bolt lock system designed by Kijiro Nambu.{{sfn|Ness|2014|page=44,51}}

File:Marines with captured Type 96.jpg with a captured Type 96]]

File:Type 96 LMG with Type 99 shield.jpg

The Type 96 light machine gun was almost a complete reworking of the Type 11, combining the features of the Hotchkiss with some of the ZB vz. 26.{{sfn|Ness|2014|pages=50−51}}{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|page=96}} As with the Type 11, it continued to use the same 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridges as the Type 38 rifle infantry rifle,{{cite book|author=US Department of War |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJA/HB/HB-9.html#III |title=Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, TM-E 30-480 (1945) |publisher= Louisiana State University Press |year=1994 |edition=reprint |isbn= 0-8071-2013-8}} although the adoption of the more powerful 7.7×58mm Arisaka rimless round for the Type 99 rifle soon created a demand for a new light machine gun capable of firing the same ammunition, the Type 99 light machine gun.{{sfn|Ness|2014|page=45}} Due to their visual resemblance to the British Bren light machine gun they are often mistakenly regarded as clones.{{Cite web |title=RIA: Nambu Type 96 & Type 99 LMGs |first=Ian |last=McCollum |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/ria-nambu-type-96-type-99-lmgs/ |date=September 3, 2015 |website=Forgotten Weapons}}

The major differences from the Type 11 were the top-mounted curved detachable box replacing the problematic ammunition hopper with an overhead magazine and the removal of the receiver-mounted oiler (though cartridges needed to be lubricated before they were loaded into the magazines), the latter made possible the incorporation of a quick-change barrel to avoid overheating; the Type 96 also features a unique Nambu-designed bolt lock, in the form of a square frame that moves up and down to lock and unlock the barrel.{{sfn|Ness|2014|pages=44,51}} The Type 96 had a blade front sight and a leaf rear sight, with graduations from 200 to 1,500 meters, with windage adjustment. A 2.5X telescopic sight with a 10 degree field of view could be attached at the right side of the gun.

The Type 96 also had a folding bipod attached to the gas block, and could be fitted with the standard infantry Type 30 bayonet, which could be attached to the gas block below the barrel,{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|pages=96,100,104}} making it, alongside the later Type 99 the only machine gun used in the Second World War that a bayonet could be attached to,{{sfn|Bishop|1998|pages=238−239}} despite the fact that the weapon weight of {{convert|9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} made it awkward to handle in hand-to-hand combat.{{sfn|Rottman|2013|page=73}} The gun had no select-fire capability.{{sfn|Ness|2014|page=51}}

The Type 96 was somewhat more reliable than the Type 11, but it still required the use of lubricated ammunition to avoid jams.{{sfn|Ness|2014|pages=50−51}} In practice, this tended to worsen the problem instead, as the oiled cartridges tended to become coated with dust and sand.{{sfn|Rottman|2013|page=73}} This feature and its inherent faults were dropped with the introduction of the Type 99 light machine gun.{{sfn|Ness|2014|page=51}} Like the Type 11, the gun doesn't handle standard 6.5×50mm Arisaka rounds without malfunctions, requiring the use of special ammunition (marked with a circled "G" on the cartons) to ensure proper extraction of spent cases.{{sfn|Rottman|2013|page=73}}{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|page=103}}

Parts were usually non-interchangeable, each gun being hand-fitted and manufacturers introducing minor changes to their designs, such as flash suppressor, cooling fins, and ejection port covers, without any regard for standardization; an issue that also plagued its successor, the Type 99.{{sfn|Ness|2014|page=45−46}}

File:IJA 5th division, landing on Malayan beach, 1941.jpg soldiers armed with the Type 96 storm the beaches of Malaya]]The Type 96 came into active service in 1936 and was intended to replace the older Type 11; however the Type 11 had already been produced in large quantities, and both weapons remained in service until the end of the war.{{sfn|Bishop|1998|page=238}} The Type 96 handled well and could be easily fired from the hip, but it was sensitive to dirt, dust, and sand, requiring it to be always kept clean and oiled.{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|pages=96, 103}} While the gun's light weight and mobility proved to be useful in jungle warfare, the 6.5 mm caliber wasn't entirely suitable for combat situations.{{sfn|War Department General Staff|1943|page=2}} It was supplanted by the more reliable Type 99 light machine gun, which fired a larger 7.7 mm round which had greater stopping power.{{sfn|Ness|2014|pages=45,51}}{{sfn|Adams|2021|page=24}}

According to US military manuals, reports of Japanese soldiers making use of Thompson submachine guns may have originated from the fact that the Type 96 could be hip fired.{{sfn|War Department|1942|page=96}}

After World War II, it was used by Indonesian forces during the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch forces{{cite book|title=The Control of local conflict : a design study on arms control and limited war in the developing areas|volume=3|last1=Bloomfield|first1= Lincoln P.|last2=Leiss|first2=Amelia Catherine|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for International Studies|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf#page=97|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804022404/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA324492.pdf#page=97|url-status=live|archive-date=August 4, 2020|date=30 June 1967|hdl=2027/uiug.30112064404368|page=92}} notably during the attack on Jogjakarta 1949.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} It was used by the Viet Minh and the North Vietnamese forces during the First and Second Indochina Wars.{{cite book|title=Personal firepower|first=Edward Clinton|last= Ezell|publisher=Bantam Books|year=1988|series=The Illustrated history of the Vietnam War 15|oclc=1036801376|url=https://archive.org/details/personalfirepowe00ezel|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/personalfirepowe00ezel/page/48 48]-49|isbn=9780553345490 }}

• {{flag|Republic of China}}
• {{flag|People's Republic of China}}{{cite book|title=Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49|first=Philip S.|last=Jowett|series=Men at Arms 306|year=1997|publisher=Osprey Publishing|page=47|isbn= 9781855326651}}
• {{flag|Indonesia}}
• {{Flag|Empire of Japan}}Machine Guns: An Illustrated History of Their Impact by James H. Willbanks, page 104.
• {{flag|North Korea}}{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA535|title=The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History|edition=2nd|editor-first1=Spencer C.|editor-last1=Tucker|editor-first2=Paul G. Jr.|editor-last2=Pierpaoli|page=535|volume=1. A-L|chapter=Machine guns|isbn=978-1-85109-849-1|publisher=ABC-CLIO|url=https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A1645C|first=Jeff|last=Kinard|year=2010|access-date=2018-11-15|archive-date=2018-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116043249/https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A1645C|url-status=dead}}
• {{flag|Thailand}}{{cite web|title=ปกบ. แบบ 83|date=6 March 2020|url=http://sanpawut.police.go.th/New%20folder/gun/b%2083%20japan%20%206.5%20mm.html|website=กองสรรพาวุธ สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ}}
• {{flag|Vietnam}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Gregg |title=Japanese Soldier vs US Soldier: New Guinea 1942–44 |date=28 October 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4728-4414-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTo9EAAAQBAJ |language=en}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Bishop |editor1-first=Chris |title=The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II |date=1998 |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |isbn=978-0760710227 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/tractors-29177010-Encyclopedia-of-Weapons-of-World-War-II/mode/2up |access-date=5 October 2024}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Mayer |editor1-first=S. L. |title= The Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan |publisher= The Military Press |year= 1984 |isbn= 0-517-42313-8 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/risefallofimperi0000unse }}
• {{cite book |last1=Ness |first1=Leland |title=Rikugun: Volume 2 - Weapons of the Imperial Japanese Army & Navy Ground Forces |date=2014 |publisher=Helion |isbn=978-1-912174-58-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYQwDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
• {{cite book |author=Popenker, Maxim |title=Machine Gun: The Development of the Machine Gun from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day |publisher=Crowood |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84797-030-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/machinegundevelo0000pope }}
• {{cite book|author=Rottman, Gordon L. |title=Japanese Infantryman 1937–1945|publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2005|isbn= 1-84176-818-9}}
• {{cite book |last1=Rottman |first1=Gordon L. |title=The Big Book of Gun Trivia: Everything you want to know, don't want to know, and don't know you need to know |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78200-949-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEnDCwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
• {{cite web|title=Banking and Monetary Statistics, 1914-1941, Part I|url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/38#6408|orig-date=1943 |publisher=Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.) |website=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis|date=January 1943 }}
• {{cite book |last1=War Department |first1=United States |title=War Department Technical Manual |date=1942 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMQIAQAAIAAJ&dq=type+96+light+machine+gun+hotchkiss&pg=PA95 |access-date=4 October 2024 |language=en}}
• {{cite book |last1=War Department General Staff |first1=United States |title=Japanese Infantry Weapons |date=1943 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SiJmBMaY1NAC |access-date=5 October 2024 |language=en}}

• [https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/mg.htm Taki's Imperial Japanese Army page]

{{Commons category}}{{Japanese WWII infantry weapons}}

Category:Light machine guns

Category:Machine guns of Japan

Category:World War II infantry weapons of Japan

Category:World War II machine guns

Category:Machine guns of Manchukuo

Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1930s