Author Topic: Koishikawa Type 26  (Read 3254 times)

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Offline Greasemonkey

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Koishikawa Type 26
« on: February 09, 2019, 09:32:01 PM »
One I fell off the wagon for... never seen one up close until this one, but, I touched it, so I had to buy it.

It's a Japanese Type 26, the first modern revolver manufactured by Japan, accepted in 1893 by the Imperial Army. These served in just about every modern war Japan was involved in, the Russo-Japanese, Second Sino-Japanese, WW1 and WW2. Only an est. 59,000 were made, so who knows how many remain. It's caliber is 9mm Japanese...basically a 9x23mm rimmed round, it's just under a .38 S&W in ballistics. It's also one that probably won't be fired....as the ammo is pretty pricey boutique stuff(when it's even made). Also....the cylinder doesn't lock like our modern ones do, it pretty much free wheels until it's just ready to drop the hammer, then it locks the cylinder........which as I understand is normal in it's design.

It's an interesting pistol... you can see little bit's of another well known top break design in it.... S&W Model 3, which Japan was using at the time...  One really interesting thing, pull the trigger guard back and out, releases a hinged side cover to the inner workings.. I can not imagine this being a good idea in the field.






I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2019, 10:07:00 PM »
That’s a cool, unique piece.  thumb1

What’s wrong with the removable cover? I suppose you think it’s a bad idea to do watch repair while sitting in the mud in the dark in a rain storm too...you’re no fun at all  rofl

Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2019, 10:38:18 PM »
That’s a cool, unique piece.  thumb1

What’s wrong with the removable cover? I suppose you think it’s a bad idea to do watch repair while sitting in the mud in the dark in a rain storm too...you’re no fun at all  rofl
It's got a really nice bore on it.. sadly ammo is hard to come by.. 1 or 2 places do small lots from time to time. One place was $88 bucks for a box of 50. One can use .38S&W brass, you have to shave the rim thinner..

I have several boxes of 38S&W...and a belt sander..  :o   Uhmmmmmm no..  nea1 :)

And yeah, the cover, thats like doing brain surgery under flickering emergency lighting in the middle of an earthquake.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2019, 10:48:22 PM by Greasemonkey »
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline carls sks

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2019, 09:21:16 AM »
neat one to have, never seen one. thanks for sharing.  thumb1
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Offline Phosphorus32

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2019, 04:55:24 PM »


I was wondering about the numbers because it's literally the characters for 2 10 and 6 from left to right. My son who knows Japanese says it's interpreted as 2 10s plus 6, so 26.

Offline Matchka

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2019, 05:32:50 PM »
Excellent piece! Classic break barrel. Would be considered a 'copy' or licensed variant of the Webley?

Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2019, 05:38:12 PM »
Neither.. it's closer to the S&W Model 3 in my opinion than a Webley.
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Matchka

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2019, 04:48:41 AM »
Now that you mention it, S&W Model 3 makes sense.

Offline Larry D.

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2019, 12:46:25 PM »
What a cool piece of history!
Very nice score.

Once you have some ammo, can the brass be reloaded? Is there any die set that could be made to work?
I only ask because something like that should be shown some love. When I had my Luger, I only took it out once a year or so,  but I did let a few people get a chance to shoot a classic handgun. Same with me Arisaka.
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Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2019, 01:04:14 PM »
The cases are reloadable, and you can get dies...they are rather expensive.

I have several I don't or wont shoot.. due to lack of ammo. I found 2 Japanese surplus rounds kicking around in a pile of ammo at a show for my Nambu, I have several boxes of .41 Swiss rimfire and a few other obscure rounds for things I have I just don't fire.

I solved my urge to shoot any of my Lugers :) I went and found a mismatched Erfurt commercial beater and an officially licensed .22 rimfire Luger to take my aggressions on. If it breaks.. I can just replace the parts guilt free. Breaking my papered bringback, my totally matching one with matching mags, holster and takedown tool, or my LP.08 would probably cause a heartattack.
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Larry D.

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2019, 01:13:40 PM »
I hear you.
I broke the hammer on a numbers matching Mauser C96 and it broke my heart.

For me, owning a historical gun and not shooting it (at least once) is kinda like being married to a supermodel and not sleeping with her.

Still, that's a really cool pistol. I'm envious. For some reason, I skipped Japanese handguns back when I was heavily into WWII collecting.
All that remains is my Winchester M1 carbine, and a box of German militaria that I'm going to sell.

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Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2019, 01:37:49 PM »
The Broomhandle... I did try mine.. after about 3 magazines, I decided to just put it up and retire it as well..the bore was more shot out than I thought, and I could have probably thrown it more accurately. chuckles1
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem

Offline Larry D.

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2019, 01:51:22 PM »
That's too bad.
I couldn't even look at mine after that without being mad. I traded mine for a FAL not long afterwards.

Here's a warning:
If you get a firearm that's not common, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!

In my case, I was sold what  was said to be the correct ammo for my C96 (broomhandle) It was actually 7.62 Tokarev ammo in a 30 Mauser box. The ammo was way too hot and broke a serial numbered part. (the hammer)
This turned a beautiful numbers matching gun into a non matching gun.
If I had done my research on ammo, I would have known what headstamps to look out for.
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Offline Greasemonkey

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Re: Koishikawa Type 26
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2019, 01:57:42 PM »
Here's a warning:
If you get a firearm that's not common, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!


Not just on firearms, if more people would practice that......on everything, life as a whole would be a lot easier thumb1


and yeah.. Tokarev ammo in a Broomhandle usually doesn't end well... kinda like having to be extra careful when you have a .380acp chambered Makarov and a 9mm Makarov out shooting at the same time....... look before you do! thumb1
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse......

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

I said I was an addict........I didn't say I had a problem