World War II Database

Country of Origin	Japan
Type	Machine Gun
Caliber	6.500 mm
Capacity	30 rounds
Length	1,070.000 mm
Barrel Length	550.000 mm
Weight	9.100 kg
Rate of Fire	550 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity	735 m/s

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseType 96 light machine guns were developed by Lieutenant General Kijiro Nambu, commanding officer of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal, from the Type 11 light machine gun design. They were introduced into Japanese Army service in 1936. They were gas operated, air cooled, and fired only in full automatic mode. Private weapons manufacturer Chuo Kogyo KK in Japan began production in 1937, followed by the Japanese Army's Kokura Rikugun Zoheisho arsenal in 1938, and then in 1939 the private firm Hoten Zohei-sho KK in Manchukuo joined in. Detachable box magazines addressed reliability issues caused by Type 11 weapons' hopper design, but overall reliability was still questionable due to a new problem introduced: the type of grease Type 96 light machine guns used to lubricate the cartridges were prone to pick up dust, thus frequently jamming the weapons during field operations. After several rounds of changes, production of the Type 96 light machine guns ended in 1943 in favor of the Type 99 light machine guns that had been in production since Apr 1942. Type 99 light machine guns were almost identical to the Type 96 design, with the only major difference being that the Type 96 design used 6.5-mm rounds while the Type 99 design used 7.7-mm rounds.

Source: Wikipedia.

ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Sep 2008

Photographs

See all 14 photographs of Type 96 Machine Gun

Did you enjoy this article? Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Share this article with your friends:  Facebook  Reddit  Twitter Stay updated with WW2DB:  RSS Feeds

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Comment Type	General comment/question Additional information about this page Looking for more information on this topic Looking for information about my relative
Your Comments
Security Code

Note: We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.