Japanese Naval Special Type 99 Carbine
This is an example of a later war attempt to provide firearms for the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) or other naval personnel. It was made under the supervision of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.
This example was inspected by the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal. Their inspectioin
mark can be seen on top of the barrel forward of the receiver. These were made using
cast trainer rifle parts for everything possible. Even the receiver was cast and had a strange
"step down" on the left side. The bolt locks into the rear of the barrel which was very
different for the time. Most of these special Type 99s were rifle variations with longer
barrels.
The stock is two piece and looks to have been held together with staples at some point. There
is a hole drilled vertically through the rear of the stock just forward of the butt plate and has a dowel rod inserted. It is not known if the dowel rod was originally glued in to support the stock pieces or if the hole was intended for the possible use of a rope sling. This feature is only found on a very few examples.
This example has a control number on the barrel collar and that number does not match the serial number on the left side of the receiver. The barrels were apparently made independently and shipped to the producer of the rifle.
For more information about this interesting piece, try to find "The Japanese Naval Special Type 99 Rifles and Carbines" by Francis C. Allan & Carl J. Goddard, BANZAI Special Project No. 4, an exceptional study.