Type 97: Kijiro Nambu Adapts the ZB-30 for Japanese Tanks

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Demountable, modular sights, multi position bipod, folding and adjustable stock. All pretty modern apart from the magazine location.

[@lairdcummings9092]

Not surprised; the ZB machine guns were excellent, and well ahead of their time.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

but top loading makes a lot of sense for a vehicle weapon, more than a bottom loading gun depending on how its mounted

[@verycreativ233]

Toploaded magazines for magazine fed Lmg's are modern though. it literally became a thing because having a mag hang out the bottom sucks for magazine fed light machineguns

[@gingergorilla695]

I love 💘 the cooling fins on this thing, so bada$$

[@demonprinces17]

This type better on top

[@masterimbecile]

Nambu wasn't happy with what they had as vehicle MGs, so he decided to Czech out some alternatives.

[@calvingreene90]

Groan.

[@MichaelPoage666]

Waiter, Czech please!

[@TheCatBilbo]

Don't tell us: you're here all week & available for weddings, birthdays & Bar mitzvahs. 😜

[@MrManoynav]

What is the result of an abortion in Prague? : A cancelled Czech.

[@TonyStark-uu9us]

Your apolitical commentary style is so refreshing in the current online environment, Ian. Please don't ever change!

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

Next episode, Ian buys a tankette to try out his new gun.

[@robertthomas5906]

Nah, just put it on a Jeep gun mount. Then he'd have to get ammo. Seems to me some of the IJ ammo is very tough to impossible to get.

[@jannerantanen5121]

@@robertthomas5906 yes but a tankette is way cooler than a jeep gun mount

[@kevinwestermann1001]

@@jannerantanen5121 And the only thing even cooler would be a Kettenkrad. :P

[@junglesairsoftblog6311]

I'm still waiting for Karl to add a gun mount to his VW Kubelwagen/thing

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

There is a video of this gun where they cut out the machine gun port from a wreck of a Type 97 Chi-Ha from an island to install this gun lol

[@Pocahonkers]

A little sidefact: Japan used to put armored shrouds over the part of the barrel that extends beyond the ballmount outside of the tank to prevent the cooling fins from taking damage. Which is why they sometimes look flamethrower-ish when you see them mounted on the few imperial japanese Tanks that existed.

[@AshleyPomeroy]

I wonder if they ever thought about adding cooling fins to the cooling fins' armoured shrouds, and then an armoured shroud to go over the cooling fins' armoured shroud's cooling fins.

[@TheJazsa80]

@@AshleyPomeroy I don't think this 'side fact' is remotely factual.

[@spencerw9784]

@@TheJazsa80 It’s real

[@emu4286]

I'm surprised Ian didn't mention the barrel shroud (which is missing from the example in the video). It's a visually distinctive part of the Type 97 when it's actually mounted on a vehicle.

[@anzaca1]

Despite everyone else simply discarding cooling fins, and just going for a heavy profile barrel.

[@janprochazka6330]

Czechnology shining bright even in Japan !!!

[@adambielen8996]

Everybody needs that sweet sweet Czechnology.

[@Bladerunner5434]

Great explanation on how they constructed the 7.7x58.

[@kwongyeang]

That 360degree folding bipod is very very cool. Had to rewatch that several times.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

360 degrees, to shoot the enemy, and cowards alike

[@danielwalker8142]

milatery oragami

[@bryceevans331]

Yeah the design of that bi pod is next level

[@framusburns-hagstromiii808]

That is one sweet MG!! And the bipod is top-shelf! Clever engineering/adaptations. Cheers!

[@alleycat7482]

"I'm here today at Morphy's with a very cool machine gun." Looks like you are with more than one very cool machine guns.

[@haroldsprenkle4173]

Tripped over and walked around one of these many times. Guy I worked for brought one of these back, was decommissioned, firing pin was in desk drawer, didn't matter, where could you get enough ammo anyway. Thanks for the video, I watch them all.

[@hogwash9681]

That's a huge Fleshlight on the table!

[@paddington1670]

I need one like that.

[@alexv6324]

🤣🤣 I was too sleep deprived to think of the word for what I thought that looked like, but there it is.

[@joshuabessire9169]

Brandon Herrara/Forgotten Weapons crossover.

[@beefcurtains6691]

Lmao I was thinking the same thing🤣😂

[@beefcurtains6691]

I think this guns nickname is the "woodpecker" too lol

[@n.a.4292]

About the Hotchkiss royalties (and according to a japanese book), Nambu did redesign most of the internals when creating the Type 3 HMG. This means Japan pretty much stopped paying Hotchkiss royalties from 1914 onwards. Edit: Yeah, they did the same with the Type 97: Nambu redesigned the weapon so Japan didn't have to pay anything.

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

One of my favorite machine guns when the Type 97 has its barrel sleeve installed, it looks really cool.

[@nikola12nis]

So this optic is the reason for Brandon's latest ATF vs Fleshlights video ? This is where it all started...Almost 100 years worth of fleshlighting...

[@Pocahonkers]

Seems japan always was way ahead of the curve when it came to weird NSFW stuff.

[@justindunlap1235]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who instantly went there when I saw that padded "eyepiece"

[@OGJonnyKamikaze]

@@justindunlap1235 Is that the Jenna Jameson model eye piece?

[@justindunlap1235]

@@OGJonnyKamikaze I don't know it's a bit small plus it looks too pristine

[@jarink1]

But the muzzle isn't pixellated?

[@SuperiorAutocraft]

There are some amazingly well thought out and intricate details on this gun. Simply brilliant.

[@jamesallred460]

Damn that thing is freakin sweet!!

[@FlynnMTaggart]

"Hence 'Type 97' equates to 1937." *starts counting on fingers looking confused*

[@Hansengineering]

I am also still confused.

[@KyriosMirage]

The calendar the Japanese used (Kōki) didn't line up with the Gregorian/Julian calendar we use. 1940 was their year 2600, so 1937 would have been 2597.

[@Grimmtoof]

I think it's because they were counting from the start of the current era ie the Meiji Restriction.

[@Hansengineering]

@@KyriosMirage Thank you.

[@KyriosMirage]

@@Grimmtoof It semi-standardized after the Meiji Restoration, but the year count doesn't start from there.

[@nimay13]

"They took this rimless ammo and stick it to a heavy machine gun, and huh..." I believe they actually said. NANI!!!???

[@ineptwatcher]

Ian, the Gun Jesus: "So, what do we need to do to make the ZB effectively into a good japaniese tank gun?" Me, a meming shitter: "A bayonet."

[@fritzdaddy-135mmgetstagger4]

I wish you was funny

[@adulescentuluscarnifex8412]

@@fritzdaddy-135mmgetstagger4 I wish you were funny too

[@fritzdaddy-135mmgetstagger4]

@@adulescentuluscarnifex8412 best part is i wasnt trying to be funny

[@Anon26535]

Drive me closer!

[@petesheppard1709]

Somehow, it's easy to see these being transferred to nearby infantry units...sometime after midnight...

[@IceWolfLoki]

Tank guns might also be harder to bring back cause they tend to get exploded with the tank.

[@kive33]

Made my day lmao

[@Chiller01]

It’s also hard to duffle cut a tank gun.

[@stanislavczebinski994]

Tanks usually burned out back then, which destroyed the guns. To damage a gun by explosion, it had to be very very powerful. Guns take explosions way better than, say, humans.

[@nooley97]

Oh so this automatic machine gun was mounted on the tanks back in ww2?

[@markbecht1420]

I would expect an emergency bayonet mount to be stowed with the bipod for field use

[@thisaccountisntreal107]

They bipod is pointy on the bottom Just fold it up facing forward and you're ready for double bayonet charges

[@dndboy13]

im sure the scope can double as a bludgeon if need be

[@adolfolerito6744]

@@dndboy13 it can double as a kinky sex toy as well. Just look at the damn thing

[@jubuttib]

8:58 Huh! I didn't know that the marking for "fire" in the safety is literally the kanji for "fire", as in burning, flamey kind.

[@thijsvandervoort8261]

It is not so surprising if you think about the ethymology of "firing" a gun. It started with holding a flame close to your gunpowder until it caught fire and exploded in most cultures, so it would seem logical for fire(like flame) and fire(like gun) to be the same in many languages

[@KingdomOfDimensions]

I bet if English had a system like kanji it would also be use the symbol for fire, since I'm pretty sure that's the etymological root for its use. A "firearm" is a weapon that uses fire.

[@jubuttib]

Sure, the etymology is there, but I still would have guessed that by that point it would have shifted to being derived from the word "shoot". While the word "fire" in English can refer to many things (literal fire, shooting a gun, losing a job, etc.), the kanji 火 isn't quite as ambiguous (to my knowledge, not an expert), and isn't usually (again, to my knowledge...) a part of words related to the meaning of "firing a weapon". I see 射 and 撃 much more there.

[@jubuttib]

@@KingdomOfDimensions Mmm... Might be, might not be? Kanji is interesting to me in that while the pronunciation is often the same for many different concepts, the kanji themselves are often much more specific. So they might just as well have originally used the "kanji" for literal fire to refer to shooting a weapon, but later come up with another one that is still pronounced the same, but drawn differently, to refer to the act of firing a weapon.

[@IamOutOfNames]

@@thijsvandervoort8261 True in Finnish: "tulta" literally translates to "fire".

[@darrelljourdan3687]

... Was there ever a gun made that Ian doesn't know the entire in's & out's of?.... Wow. Great stuff!

[@mikehart4742]

Hey Ian, long time production sound mixer here. You need to lower the input sensitivity on your wireless pack. Assuming it's a sennheiser with the included ME-2 mic, it should be set to either -36, -39, or -42 dB. Been mixing for years and that's always the sweet-spot for loud, clear speakers such as yourself. If it's too low you can always boost it in post. If it's too loud and clipping (as it is here) it is much harder to clean up and still retains the distortion even when you lower the levels.

[@bami2]

16:47 "royalties" is a dirty word but Ian just overruled the censorship

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Ian .

[@Gordonseries385]

Cool history and showing! Thank you Ian

[@Timaco]

Beautiful! What a bunch of interesting solutions in a gun. Thanks

[@TheGearhead222]

Another great video Ian!-John in Texas

[@randomidiot8142]

I like the bipod attachment method and the option of placement. Seems like one of those compromise things that makes or breaks a gun, but here it's personal choice or situational need.

[@basichistory]

Excellent video

[@edrichlouw1790]

It feels like, aside from the katana and the Zero, Japanese arms and armer is something I almost never hear about.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

probably because of all the beligerants of ww2, japan ended the war with the least amount of surviving weaponry, and what little did, we dumped into the ocean, so only the odd survivor or trophy exists today

[@wesleygay8918]

@@AsbestosMuffins also due to the language being much harder to translate and the japanese being fairly thorough at destroying their records and technical data to prevent capture.

[@Stardude78]

I think this only applies to pop history. You wouldn't neccisarily think this watching any of the more serious KZbinrs. Ian seems to have covered pretty much all the Japanese WW2 small firearms and I believe he owns a Type 97.

[@88porpoise]

@@Stardude78 Ian's father collected Japanese arms so he is pretty familiar with them.

[@88porpoise]

There are a number of reasons for that. Destruction of Japanese records plus the language issues made research into them and Japanese military in general not particularly common compared to European countries. Getting access to and translating European records is just easier for most researchers. There was little commercial trade in Japanese firearms etc. So them and their ammunition were never very common in the West. For example, someone who brought back a Mauser could easily get ammo to blast away because every store had 8mm Mauser ammo while an Arisaka didn't have a great ammo supply and it probably got relegated to the basement/attic. And yes, a lot was historically written off or ignored due to racism. Both before and after the war.

[@gunner678]

Japanese MGs are always fascinating. Great video.

[@diluentefluvia]

Nambu and his designs are chronically under appreciated in the west. That guy was such a talent.

[@diluentefluvia]

@@prfwrx2497 they can't all be Browning, that's for sure.

[@effincook4176]

>looks at the thing on the table< ---- "this is a japanese..." Ah, there it is

[@TheArkTheArkTheArk]

I only understood like 5 words of that title but I’m here to listen!

[@Baggytrousers27]

A gorgeous piece of engineering.

[@jeroylenkins1745]

The gas plug is somewhat inconveniently located. However with vehicle mounted MGs normally you are going to have 2 or 3 barrels total. So what happens is you have one barrel set to use when the gun is clean, there isn't any carbon in the gas system and a smaller gas port is needed. Then as the gun becomes fouled and the gas system fills with carbon the second barrel with the gas regulator set to a larger opening is swapped for the first one. So you'd not be messing about much with the gas regulator setting in actual use.

[@jeroylenkins1745]

@@justforever96 Just keep in mind that the daily use pain in the ass factor is an important consideration for troops.

[@cheyannei5983]

I don't know about the Japanese service, but it was extremely common worldwide to strip the coaxial machinegun off your tank for infantry or fortification use at earliest convenience. HE rounds are a thing and if you're pointing the machinegun at something, you're pointing the gun at something, so... It wasn't uncommon for M4 shermans to ship out with 2 or 3 machineguns and end up in the field with only one; or to ship out with one to be equipped to it's full 4 gun configuration only to end up with no machineguns at all.

[@TheWhoamaters]

This has taught me one thing, always make sure every bit is there when buying

[@panfriedmarmot]

My guess for the 90 degree position on the stock is to be able to use it like a spade grip. Left hand on the trigger grip, right hand on the butt or the tube that holds the stock. Could also be for when its in the vehicle and stowed, if it slips out of the forward position and flops down it will stop at 90 degrees instead of flopping around while you're trying to shoot it.

[@Oblithian]

I really like the idea of mountable and detachable guns in vehicles. It makes the mobile units much more adaptable.

[@stevenhoman7723]

their aircraft also used hamilton standard proppellor constant speed revices; which they had also liscenced.

[@teejin669]

I love the look of it. Spectacular

[@feldweible]

Very cool history. Thank you.

[@artizzy2k2k]

I love this gun now it's so neat

[@davidhanson4909]

This gun should be used in a Star Wars show. It really fits the aesthetic.

[@Tr4wnet]

I really shouldn't look at Morphy's next list of auction weapons beacuse its a spoiler for Ian's videos lol

[@cheyannei5983]

I feel like this thing is going to be going for a small fortune, it's in immaculate condition and it's complete

[@quillnsofa8051]

@@cheyannei5983 The estimate is $12,000 - $18,000

[@beachboy0505]

Excellent video 📹 The ingenuity of this gun reminds me of a new Honda Jazz'. It configures in many ways, yet it will work.

[@dustinrettig3652]

If it's in/on a vehicle, the downward stock gives you secondary hand hold for a little more control.

[@ticklemaster6257]

"Thank you for watching"? No, Ian. Thank YOU for doing what you do

[@StPaul76]

Before you explained the "scope" I thought it was just something peculiarly of Japanese taste of certain activities.. You know.. Kampai time and sort.. :D

[@F1ghteR41]

1:18 I find it ironic (especially given the background Ian is filming against) that they started work right about the time most armies started adopting heavy machineguns in half an inch or so calibres, which prompted the increase in armour of their targets by the end of the next decade (when this new Japanese cartridge was adopted). Effectively this (and the general divergence of use cases) made nascent true general purpose machineguns and potent rifle cartridges for them much less effective, hence why late in WW2 intermediate cartridges finally got adopted on a wide scale.

[@F1ghteR41]

@@justforever96 A lot, actually. Hotchkiss design in 13.2 was quite prolific pre-war, being adopted by a lot of nations, France and Italy among them, and that was back in the late '20s & early '30s. Italian air forces also made use of a Breda-SAFAT in 12.7×81SR (which would also be used later in Japanese Ho-103). The British actually used their .50 Vickers MG a lot on their AFVs since its adoption in 1932 and before switching to 15 mm BESA, which originated as the Czech ZB-60. The latter one was used (again, on land mounts) by the Czechoslovak and Yugoslavian armies before falling in the hands of the Germans. The Soviets adopted the DK in the late '20s and modified it into DShK in 1938, while also adopting Berezin's design for aerial service in early 1939. The Germans, who, despite arguably fathering the whole concept of an HMG as it was seen in the period being discussed, didn't use their HMGs in ground roles (aside from the captured examples), but made heavy use of MG 131 in their planes starting from 1938 (and later MG 151).

[@thebox2909]

I've been waiting for this since I started using this in BFV. 2nd favorite LMG, after the Type 11.

[@VDV90SHakal]

I can just imagine an instructor picking a specific cooling fin that the bipod MUST be mounted on or else... Punishment. Army life is pretty universal.

[@steveunknown8407]

This gun looked so odd from the cover photo I had to watch😊

[@KingdomOfApple]

haha, same. I was about to close youtube when I saw it, and then I realised I needed to spend another 17 minutes and 53 seconds on here...

[@catfish552]

I always thought this thing looked a little dorky with its giant, padded scope and funky stock, but it's actually a really neat gun. The way the bipod attaches is super cool.

[@johnroos5807]

What a neat machine gun!:) Semper Fidelis

[@coaxill4059]

This thing looks just so cool! I can't get enough of how hardcore steampunk Imperial Japan was without knowing it. They've got these big beautiful machines, large slabs of steel with lots of protruding bits and rivets, and somehow despite their scattered and varied inspiration all their equipment has this distinct aesthetic.

[@captaintoyota3171]

I got a type14 nambu!! Got the paperwork when i was brought back during ww2 as well. Sadly my grandfather didnt like guns never oiled it. Threw it in a closet for 60yrs. Frame is pitted but barrel is mint.

[@Agent00abe]

Cooling fins doubling as a 1930's picatinnyrail is pretty cool :D

[@AsbestosMuffins]

what a lovely fluted barrel it has

[@AtlasJotun]

It's the opposite of a Bren: a machine gun with southpaw sights! Maybe I'm just a spaz, but I don't recall Ian mentioning why that was (the ZB sights are on the left side of the gun). Mayhap they intended to primarily use the optical sight/bludgeon and just stuck the irons somewhere out of the way...

[@thesleepypiggy]

13:24 "Without this, gun don' work."

[@mascadadelpantion8018]

Well this looks amazing

[@jonminer9891]

Hi, Ian. I think that Type 97 would be fun to shoot if it was mounted in a vehicle. It looks heavy to carry and expensive to manufacture. If I were a collector, I would not collect that one. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

[@comiketiger]

Interesting! Thank you. God bless all here.

[@evo1ov3]

I'm not even into weapons. But Ian pulls off this Bob Ross thing with firearms. I don't understand it. But I keep coming back.

[@thelemon0001]

Firearms engineering summarized in 5 five words by our friend Ian: "Without this, gun don't work."

[@eizol568]

Good to be lucky to get to Ian’s video this early...but the early bird catches the gun worm 😉

[@LittleRabbit1138]

Oh Gun Jesus! You gave us the Bergmann Marathon, we humbly ask you to bless us poor wretched souls with a ZB26 and Variants Marathon!

[@jussayinmipeece1069]

JUST FOUND OUT THAT STERLING MADE A RIFLE VERSION AND A LIGHT SMG VERSION OF THEIR SUBMACHINE GUN. WOULD BE NICE IF WE COULD GET A DEEP DIVE ON THEM. THANKS IAN.

[@adude8424]

9:20 That big eye pad looks very familiar to an item that I have in my room.

[@ProphTruth100]

"You can use zb26 magazines with the type 97 which is good because type 97 magazines are extremely rare" oh good I needed some magazines for all my type 97s thanks.

[@katter558]

Wow last time I was this early Ian still used the Universal Disassembly Tool

[@DevinMoorhead]

The good old days

[@osric1730]

Ambitious looking flesh-light in front of the box....

[@williamlitten2444]

The video starts and I wonder why Ian has a fleshlight on the table. I then realize it's a scope.

[@Chubbza5]

This guy is the Doug DeMiro of guns.

[@kubrick1969]

Morphy Auctions to Gun Jesus: sorry Ian, it's only for right handed. Gun Jesus to Morphy Auctions: Shut up and take my money!!!

[@bradymenting5120]

i love this gun because it looks like a 60s-70s sci-fi laser gun

[@praveenb9048]

Oh, and the bipod also doubles as a pair of tongs for prisoner interrogation.

[@newlevelgraphicsdavidframe2870]

Who makes the repro scope mounts> I have never seen one. What is rarer than a scope mount is the wireframe that attaches to the trigger that holds a canvas and leather bag with a zipper on the bottom to catch the brass so you don't have a tank full of the spent casing to walk on. I have one but sadly the bag rotted away when the tank it was in was full of water and the acid from the batteries.

[@PitFriend1]

Seems odd that the buttstock is folding rather than being completely removable since it’s primarily intended to be used from inside a vehicle. I guess it’s more convenient if you do need to bail out of the vehicle in a hurry you don’t need to find the stock but if you’re in so much of a hurry to leave you probably aren’t going to be taking the time to dismount the machinegun in the first place. It’s doubly odd when you need to grab the bipod as a separate piece anyways.

[@TubularAnde]

I was playing War Thunder the other day and thought these looked like star wars blasters, no glued-on gubbins required

[@mr.smooth05]

Me looking at the thumbnail: What is this weird looking gun im going to watch an in dept video about.

[@dustyak79]

The Japanese guns steel reminds me of something a medieval blacksmith forged with an anvil and hammer.

[@jarink1]

Every time Ian says tank I imagine him saying it with quotation marks. "Tank".

[@NaginataMike]

Bellissima. Magnifica mitragliatrice.

[@gooondie]

There’s just something extensive heat fins 😍

[@tamlandipper29]

I have no firsthand experience of them, but I feel like you are going to spend hours cleaning mud out of those crevices.

[@gooondie]

@@tamlandipper29 absolutely you will! Reminds me of trying to polish the engine block of my old Honda nighthawk... pretty heat fins=pain in the ass cleaning

[@arttrashuberalles7223]

It's very star wars-esque, for lack of a better analogy

[@bezahltersystemtroll5055]

it looks so good 🥺😳

[@matthayward7889]

Top loading, magazine fed LMG? Yes please!

[@passingthetorch5831]

That bipod is great

[@austin_bennett]

It would be interesting to see this at the range

[@TimLee356]

this is why i am convinced they actually had made gundams.

[@AleK0451]

they've actually made one

[@SteamCrane]

Like it a lot!

[@JGCR59]

The telescopic sight looks like the forbidden banzai fleshlight

[@JCC545454]

Who would win in a fight: 1 tank Nambu vs 12 Baby Nambus?

[@MrBigbri2011]

Hey Ian, how about doing a video on the Besa British tank machine gun. There isn’t a lot out there on it and the history around how it ended up as a tank gun is quite interesting.

[@kf4tmh]

Please, what he said!

[@kf4tmh]

The type 97 is nice and all, but what I really want to know about, is what's going on with the barrel support for that M2 behind you