Original Items: Only One Lot Available. This is a wonderful and rare grouping for the Imperial Japanese Type 96/99 Light Machine Gun. All three items are in wonderful condition with signs of faithful use and wear. There is staining on the canvas but they are otherwise very attractive when displayed.

The Type 96 light machine gun was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and in World War II. It was first introduced in 1936, and fires the 6.5x50mm Arisaka from 30-round top-mounted magazines. A combination of unimpressive ballistic performance and a lack of reliability caused the Imperial Japanese Army to try to replace the Type 96 with the Type 99 light machine gun, though both saw major usage until the end of the war.

The items in this lot:
- Type 96/99 Machine Gun Canvas Cover: As with all action covers and gun cases, this was utilized in preserving the functional state of the weapon when not in use or during inclement weather. The cover is in wonderful condition with staining present and both leather straps still serviceable.

- Type 96/99 Machine Gun 4-Mag Pouch: This is another wonderful item with signs of great period use. There are some markings present on the front that appear to possibly be a number associated with a certain gun/crew. The only “real” issue with this pouch is that the magazine separators are missing.

- Assistant Gunner’s Haversack: This haversack could have been used for any number of different items including rations and medical supplies. The main use of this pack is for Assistant Gunner duties. These would include carrying the gun’s tool kit, spare ammunition, target spotting, round counting, round spotting and so on. The main focus was keeping the gun in the fight and this small bag would have held the tools to do so. Both roller buckles and straps are still present as is the shoulder strap.

A fantastic grouping of items that are no longer encountered! Comes more than ready for further research and display.

Prior to the Type 99's development, the Japanese Army was using the Type 96 light machine gun, an improvement over the previous Type 11 light machine gun. The Type 96 had been introduced into combat service in 1936, and quickly proved to be a versatile weapon to provide covering fire for advancing infantry. Both the earlier Type 11 and current Type 96 light machine guns used the same 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka cartridges as the Type 38 infantry rifle. Using similar ammunition in both guns simplified supply and had the added advantage that any squad member could supply ammunition for the light machine gun, or vice versa.

However, in 1939 the Japanese army was in the process of switching to a larger and more powerful 7.7 mm cartridge which also had no rim, which improved cartridge handling. This more powerful cartridge: 3,136 J energy, compared to the earlier 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka cartridge: 1,966 J energy, required a firearm that had more steel, bigger springs and a heavier bolt to handle the extra forces involved. This required a switch from the Type 38 rifle to the Type 99 rifle which could handle the more powerful round. Similarly, it was necessary to develop a new version of the Type 96 light machine gun that would also be able to use this new larger caliber; thus the advantages of common ammunition between riflemen and machine gunners could continue. The Type 99 light machine gun was produced at Kokura, Nagoya Arsenal and Mukden with a total production of about 53,000 weapons.

The Type 99 was basically the same design as the Type 96, and had a number of parts in common. However, it dispensed with the oiler and had better primary extraction, increasing reliability over its predecessors. Early models had a monopod at the stock and a flash suppressor on the muzzle, which was screwed onto a threaded portion of the gun barrel. A top-mounted curved detachable box magazine held 30 rounds, and the finned gun barrel could be rapidly changed to avoid overheating. Like its predecessor, the Type 96, the Type 99 bears a distinct resemblance to the British Bren gun.

The Type 99 had a blade front sight and a leaf rear sight, with graduations from 200 to 1,500 meters, with a wind adjustment. A 2.5X telescopic sight with a 10 degree field of view could be attached at the right side of the gun. These were often issued to the best marksmen of the unit and occasionally employed like a sniper rifle. A standard infantry bayonet could be attached to the gas block below the barrel, but on the battlefield this feature proved inconsequential due to the weight of the gun and the fact that the blade was largely obstructed by the flash hider when it was fixed on the muzzle.