Japanese semi-auto rifle in 1933
- Thread starter M79
- Start date
marathag
Banned
Will cost more, so fewer will be available for the troops, and will have teething issues, and one in 7.7 will have the same problems of all Battle Rifles, too powerful.
So probably would be for the elite units only
Overall, not too much change, except even cooler war trophies for GIs to sneak home.
So probably would be for the elite units only
Overall, not too much change, except even cooler war trophies for GIs to sneak home.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, the best chance for this happening is if Japan doesn't get engaged in a total war. If she is, then it makes sense to favor tried-and-true weapons that you can mass produce easily to equip the army. If Japan is at peace, or is only engaged in small-scale battles, then she is free to try something new. Still, given the constraints of Japanese industry at the time, it's hard to see them equipping the entire army with this new weapon. Maybe it could be seen as a way to give small units more firepower, with one man per squad being issued the weapon? Alternatively, it could be a weapon for special units. For example, the SNLF saw that their bolt-action rifles were insufficient for the house-to-house fighting in Shanghai in 1932. Maybe they decide that semi-auto rifles are the solution, and they are adopted for these units, but not the regular army? Or they could be issued to army paratrooper units, to help compensate for their lack of machine guns and artillery.
Now, as to which design is best, I think Kawamura's design, based on the Pedersen toggle-locking action, is at least workable. From what little I know, it sounds like the Japanese had trouble with it not delaying enough, and opening under excessively high pressure. In Pederson's rifle, as presented to other nations, he solved this by coating the cartridges in a kind of hard wax, to aid in extracting. This information was not shared with Japan, as he didn't make a sale. If the Japanese figure it out on their own, or if he does mention it, then you have the basis for a workable rifle. It's not an ideal solution, as waxed cartridges can attract dust, dirt, or grime, but it is at least a working semi-auto rifle.
Now, as to which design is best, I think Kawamura's design, based on the Pedersen toggle-locking action, is at least workable. From what little I know, it sounds like the Japanese had trouble with it not delaying enough, and opening under excessively high pressure. In Pederson's rifle, as presented to other nations, he solved this by coating the cartridges in a kind of hard wax, to aid in extracting. This information was not shared with Japan, as he didn't make a sale. If the Japanese figure it out on their own, or if he does mention it, then you have the basis for a workable rifle. It's not an ideal solution, as waxed cartridges can attract dust, dirt, or grime, but it is at least a working semi-auto rifle.
What if the Japanese chambered the rifle in their 6 mm caliber?
What if the Japanese made a copy of the Federov that was already chambered in the Japanese 6 mm round?
He refined the design and appatently solved the trouble such that lubricated cartridges were no longer required but the stress tests reportedly included pouring wet cement on the thing as it fired. If memory serves 6.5mm Arisaka rifle ammo also serves akin to a powerful intermediate cartridge as well.
What Japan needed was a simplified easier to mass produce rifle (like what the British did with the No 4 Lee Enfield) and instead spend the extra effort developing and mass producing in larger numbers the Type 99 LMG and enough SMGs for 1 or 2 per Squad.
This would have done a better job of matching US firepower at Squad and Platoon
This would have done a better job of matching US firepower at Squad and Platoon