Japanese Type 26 9mm Revolver

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It's an interesting design, because it shows what people who didn't really understand revolvers very well would come up with. It is DAO, because it is surprisingly hard to get people who have not fired pistols to understand the advantage of an SA trigger. It has a hinged sideplate, because easy cleaning of the lockwork seems like a good idea, although not as necessary as people think. It's a top-break, because the advantages of that over a rod-ejector gun are obvious, whereas the advantages of a swing-out cylinder gun are more subtle (and at the time, swing-out guns were still in their infancy). And the lack of cylinder locking except when the trigger is being pulled is what you would expect from inexperience.

The recessed case heads are a surprising touch, though. Did Japan use rimfire S&W's before this? Anyway, just my 2 cents.
 
I must plead total ignorance of that particular design. What ammunition is it chambered for...9mm? I am trying to understand how a semi rimmed round would seat in the charge hole.
Could you post a picture of a round inserted into the cylinder?

I did say "total ignorance".
 
I must plead total ignorance of that particular design. What ammunition is it chambered for...9mm? I am trying to understand how a semi rimmed round would seat in the charge hole.
Could you post a picture of a round inserted into the cylinder?

I did say "total ignorance".

It just called 9mm Japanese, I think. It looks pretty much like 38 S&W, although it is not interchangeable with it, or anything else, at least that I know of. There was nothing remarkable about it, although the rim must have been quite small, like the rims on cartridges meant for rod-ejector guns, judging from the chambers. (45 Colt has a small rim, for example.)

.As other people have mentioned, Midway made some 9mm Japanese Revolver long time ago. Making oddball, out of production (at the time) cartridges like 8mm Nambu and 9mm Browning Long was how they got started.

I shot some of their 8mm Nambu; it was good ammo. At first they loaded it with an FMJ bullet, like the Japanese had, then they found using RNL bullets gave better accuracy, apparently because Nambu bore diameters varied quite a bit. That's knowledge from 30 years ago, so I may have mis-remembered.
 
Thank you. I now know that the ammunition for the rare revolver in question is 9mm Japanese , it does have a small rim , and one is unlikely to find any at the local Farm & Fleet.
What an interesting gun.
 
If I remember correctly I got some of that Midway ammo and some reformed ammo made from .38 brass from Mr Nambu (can't seem to find a current website form him) and also noticed that Buffalo Arms has box 50 rounds of Japanese 9mm made from reformed brass for $87.59 which I may try since I've had good with results with other obsolete ammo from Buffalo Arms (per web site This is currently loaded ammunition for firearms chambered in 9mm Japanese Revolver using or reformed cases (item #9MMJAP) and a .356" diameter 150 grain round nose hard cast bullet (item #356150). First introduced in 1893). amo9mmjap.jpg
I assume since this is an early serial number revolver was made in late 1890s or early 1900s.
 
36C891D8-33AD-470A-AB89-BE995E9647CA.jpeg My book came through on my curiosity. Seems like a pain in the butt to make, but once made it seems like it should last a while since it’s low pressure. I love the note that you have to use a support while priming to keep the rim from ripping off. Seems like a case you want to apply pressure or support the case internally to prime.
 
I was going to say that judging from the figures on Wikipedia that 9mm Browning Long brass might be a better starting point for making 9mm Japanese Revolver, because it is semi-rimmed and seemed to have an even small rim diameter than 9mm Japanese. Then I thought, who has Boxer primed 9mm BL brass? Maybe 38 Super would work better, because empty or once fired brass is actually available.
 
Here is my T26. T26’s are interesting because, although they borrowed from other designs already in existence, this was a huge, massive leap forward in the Japanese firearms industry. They were not that far removed from matchlocks at this point, and were able to design a sort of mashup pistol using the french model 1892 as a basis for the side plate and influence from S&W topbreaks. The holster most commonly associated with the gun is very similar to those produced by the french for the 1892. New repros are available today. The cartridge is apparently unique-9mm Japanese doesn’t appear anywhere else in the inventory, and I do not believe there are other offerings chambered for it. Performance was anemic even by the standards of the day.

The pistol does have the cylinder that only locks up as the trigger is pulled. Not exactly awesome.

The T26 was made in pretty big quantities for the time, with new production halting the ‘20’s, although guns continued to be produced with leftover parts for some time. And there was a major type-centric refurb effort that occurred in the ‘30’s. Mine shows significant wear and I believe (no proof) that it was not refurbed based on where it was picked up (Korea).

This revolver can often be found in prime shape and prices have enjoyed a bit of a collector’s premium recently.

38346781-9283-4850-A9EF-96CDF3F2F929.jpeg
 
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