Type 3 Taisho
Koishikawa Arsenal · Machine Gun · Out Of Production · 1914
Also known as: Type 3 Heavy Machine Gun, Taisho 14, Taisho Type 3, 3-nen-shiki juki-kanju, Model 1914 Machine Gun
Overview
The Type 3 Taisho was the standard heavy machine gun of the Imperial Japanese Army from its adoption in 1914 until the introduction of the Type 92 in the 1930s. Designed by General Kijiro Nambu and built at the Koishikawa (Tokyo) Arsenal, it was a Japanese refinement of the French Hotchkiss machine gun, sharing that weapon's gas-operated action, air-cooled finned barrel, and rigid Hotchkiss-style metallic feed strips holding thirty rounds. Chambered in the same mild 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge as the Type 38 service rifle, the Type 3 fired from a heavy tripod at roughly 450 rounds per minute and required an oiler to lubricate cartridges for reliable extraction. Its designation derived from the third year of the Taisho era, and it saw extensive use throughout Japan's interwar campaigns and the opening years of the Second Sino-Japanese War before being progressively replaced by the 7.7mm Type 92.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 55000 g (1940.1 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1198 mm (47.17") |
| Barrel Length | 737 mm (29.02") |
| Action Type | Gas Operated |
| Firing Mechanism | Open Bolt |
| Trigger Type | Spade Grip |
| Magazine Capacity | 30 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Feed Strip |
| Muzzle Velocity | 740 m/s (2428 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 2464 J (1817 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 2000 m (2187 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 4000 m (4374 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 450 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 200 mm (7.87") |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- 6.5x50mm Arisaka · primary — also known as 6.5x50mm SR, 6.5mm Japanese, 6.5x50mm Meiji 30, 6.5x50mmSR Arisaka
Features
- Firing modes: Full Automatic
- Feed systems: Metallic Feed Strip
- Safety mechanisms: Manual Safety
- Features: Air Cooled Finned Barrel, Long Stroke Gas Piston, Manual Gas Regulator, Dual Spade Grips, Hotchkiss Metal Feed Strip, Oiled Cartridge Lubrication, Tripod Mounted, Tangent Leaf Sight
Service history
Operators
- Imperial Japanese Army · adopted 1914 · as Type 3 Heavy Machine Gun (Taisho 3-nen-shiki juki-kanju)
- Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces
- Manchukuo Imperial Army
- National Revolutionary Army
Conflicts
- Siberian Intervention (1918-1922)
- Mukden Incident and Manchurian Occupation (1931-1932)
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- World War II (Pacific Theater) (1941-1945)
Production
Production years: 1914-1945
Produced at the Koishikawa (Tokyo) Arsenal and other Japanese arsenals. Largely supplanted in front-line service by the 7.7mm Type 92 heavy machine gun from the early 1930s, though Type 3 guns remained in secondary and reserve use through the end of World War II.
Origin
Country of origin: Japan
Designer: Kijiro Nambu
Discontinued: 1945
Notes
The Type 3 is a near-direct adaptation of the French Hotchkiss M1914 mechanism, scaled to the 6.5mm Arisaka round. Like the Hotchkiss it fed from rigid metal strips rather than belts, which limited sustained fire but simplified the action. A persistent weakness inherited from the Hotchkiss lineage was sensitivity to dirty or dry ammunition, addressed with a built-in cartridge oiler that itself attracted grit. The barrel's prominent doughnut-shaped cooling fins gave the weapon a distinctive silhouette. The Type 3 was directly succeeded by the Type 92 heavy machine gun, which retained the same Hotchkiss-pattern strip feed and finned barrel but was rechambered for the more powerful 7.7x58mm Arisaka cartridge.
Background
Adopted in the third year of the Taisho era - hence its number - the Type 3 was General Kijiro Nambu's reworking of the French Hotchkiss into a Japanese heavy machine gun firing the same gentle 6.5mm round as the infantryman's Arisaka rifle. Its doughnut-finned barrel and clattering thirty-round metal strips became a fixture of Imperial Army machine-gun companies, and its Hotchkiss DNA carried straight into its more famous successor, the Type 92 'woodpecker', whose slow hammering cadence American troops would come to know across the Pacific.