Original Item: Only One Available. Just purchased from a private collection, this is an incredible Inert Display Machine Gun, built from all original parts on an original BATF approved display receiver. It has properly had a portion replaced entirely with solid steel bar stock, and the original barrel deactivated by welding up the chamber. Many of the internal components were also demilitarized long ago, and welded in place.

Japanese machine guns very rarely show up for sale, so we are especially proud to offer this fantastic and very desirable Pre-WWII Japanese Type 11 LMG. The Type 11 light machine gun (十一年式軽機関銃, Jyūichinen-shiki Kei-kikanjū) was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and during World War II. This is the first example that we have ever seen, and do not expect to have one again in the near future. It comes complete with the original gas piston / operating rod and recoil spring.

Combat experience in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 had convinced the Japanese of the utility of machine guns in providing covering fire for advancing infantry. This was reinforced by first-hand observations of European combat tactics by Japanese military attachés during the First World War, and the Army Technical Bureau was tasked with the development of a lightweight machine gun which could be easily transported by an infantry squad. The resultant “Type 11 light machine gun” (named after the 11th year of the reign of Emperor Taishō, or 1922) was the first light machine gun to be mass-produced in Japan and the oldest Japanese light machine gun design to see service in the Pacific War. It was superseded by the Type 96 light machine gun in 1936.

The Type 11 light machine gun was a design by famed arms designer Kijirō Nambu, based on a modification of the French Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun. It was an air-cooled, gas-operated design, using the same 6.5×50mm Arisaka cartridges as the Type 38 infantry rifle.

A feature of the Type 11 machine gun is its detachable hopper; it can be refilled while attached and does not require removal during operation. Instead of a belt or box magazine, the Type 11 was designed to hold up to six of the same cartridge clips used on the Type 38 rifle. The five-round clips were stacked lying flat above the receiver, secured by a spring arm, and the rounds were stripped from the lowest clip one at a time, with the empty clip thrown clear and the next clip automatically falling into place as the gun was fired. The system had the advantage that any squad member could supply ammunition and that the hopper could be replenished at any time. The relatively short barrel (17.5 inches) produced excessive flash with standard ammunition (initially intended for Type 38 rifles with barrel more than a foot longer). A new load was introduced which burned much more completely in the Type 11 short barrel and produced much less flash as a result. This new round was called the 6.5×50mm Arisaka genso round and the ammunition cartons were identified by a circled "G".

The inherent disadvantage of the hopper was that the open feeder box allowed dust and grit to enter the gun, which was liable to jam in muddy or dirty conditions due to issues with poor dimensional tolerances, which gave the weapon a bad reputation with Japanese troops. Another issue was that the weight of the rifle cartridges in the side-mounted hopper unbalanced the weapon when fully loaded. To compensate, the buttstock was designed in a way that it bent to the right, leading to the Chinese nickname for the weapon "bent buttstock" (Chinese: 歪把子). Reloading the weapon during an assault charge proved impossible due to the clip feeding system.

This excellent example is marked on the top of the receiver with the Japanese Characters 十 一 年 式 (Juu-Ichi Nen Shiki) written vertically, meaning Type of the Eleventh Year, or Type 11. The rear top of the receiver is marked with serial number 10475, with shortened number 0475 marked on the cocking handle, barrel jacket, receiver latch, and many other components. This looks to be a "Matching Number" example, which is highly desirable.

On the right side of the receiver with the "cloverleaf" logo used by Tokyo and then Kokura Arsenals, and represents four stacked cannon balls viewed from above. Next to this is the date 昭 10.5, which is read as Showa Era year 10, 5th month, or May 1935. This is the same year that the arsenal and factory marking were moved from Tokyo to Kokura, so it could have been made at either, though it is more likely to have been made at Kokura.

This GI WW2 bring back Type 11 has been correctly demilled to BATF specs, with the original receiver having been completely severed by torch cut. It was then re-welded on solid bar stock, with the required 2 inches of the receiver completely replaced by new material. 

Very fine with much of the original blued finish still present. The butt stock and pistol grip are both original in very good condition with their nice original color with light pressure dents and gouges from actual field use and age. The hopper on the side can still be slide out from the receiver, as originally designed, though we have no way of seeing if it still is functional.

This is a very rare and desirable machine gun, as not many were brought back by returning GIs as they were heavy and bulky weapons. A very nice example of a very rare Pre-WWII Japanese light machine gun, the first we have ever had!