Baby
Nambu Photos (Early)
I
bought this lovely little Baby on
This is the left side.
This
is a close-up of the serial number and model markings. The characters above the
serial number read from right to left and are pronounced gNambu shikih, meaning Nambu Type or Model. The first character on
the right, g
This is a top view. You can see the chamber on
the left side for the recoil spring and guide. This is a
distinguishing feature of all the early Nambu
pistols (Grandpa, Papa and Baby)
This is a close-up of the arsenal marking on
the top of the chamber.
This is the
bolt lock at the rear of the gun, showing the beautiful pattern machined into
it.
Ever
wonder why they call it a Baby? Well, the Japanese often just called it gsmall
sizeh, and this comparison with the Baby on top and a Smith & Wesson 5-shot
J-frame revolver shows why!
Like all
Nambu pistol designs, the Baby has no hold-open device, so the bolt locks back
on the magazine follower. Here is the gun with the bolt locked back.
This top
view shows the recoil spring guide in its separate chamber on the left side of
the gun (top of photo). The Grandpa and Papa were constructed similarly.
The
gun is in great shape with a matching mag. The main flaw is this scratch on the
left grip panel. There is also some wear to the bluing on the very tip of the
barrel and a couple of tiny spots of pitting on the left side of the frame.
Ever
wonder whatfs inside a Baby? Here is the right side of the main components. The
left grip panel didnft want to come out at the top, so rather than force it, this is as far as I went. The trigger assembly slides
down to allow removal of the barrel and bolt, a typical Nambu disassembly
feature. The inside of the left grip panel is marked with all four digits of
the serial number and an inspection marking. The inside of the right grip just
has the inspection marking.
This is the left side of the main components.
Just
about every part except the firing pin is serialized with either the full,
four-digit serial number or the last three digits. Here is a shot of some of
the main parts showing the serial number locations.The barrel is marked on the
bottom, the bolt lock & spring guide is marked on the right side , the locking block is marked on the right side, the
cocking piece is marked on the bottom of the front face, the guide rod is
marked on the top near the front and the bolt is marked on the bottom near the
back.
The magazine is serialized to this gun.
An
unusual feature of this pistol is that it has this marking on the left side of
the frame just in front of the sear bar retainer pin. It is the kanji ki,
meaning device, followed by the number 18. Upon consulting a prominent expert I
was told other specimens with this type of marking are known, but the
significance of them has not yete been determined.
Just
behind the sear bar retainer pin on the left side is this marking. At first I
thought it was the character ishi
(stone), but the Derby and Brown book shows an inspection mark on Papas that
consists of the character migi (meaning
grighth), so it is probably that. The two lines in the upper left should extend
further and cross each other, but as often happens the
mark was weakly struck.
Here
are the marks on the front of the grip frame and in the recess for the grip
safety. The bottom one (slightly out of focus) seems to be the kanji tomi, meaning grichh, or gabundanth. It
is the first character in several Japanese family names. I canft decipher the
top one.
Click here to go back to the Baby Photo
Gallery: babygallery.htm
Click here to go back to Nambu World: Terifs
World War II Japanese Handgun page: jhg.htm
Last updated: July 9, 2003. All contents are copyright Teri unless otherwise specified and may not
be used elsewhere in any form without prior permission.