Original Item: Only One Available. The Type 92 heavy machine gun was a Japanese heavy machine gun, related to the Hotchkiss machine gun series. It entered service in 1932 and was the standard Japanese heavy machine gun used during World War II. The Type 92 was similar in design to the earlier Type 3 heavy machine gun but chambered to fire the improved 7.7mm rimmed or semi-rimmed round. Known for its reliability, it was used after the war by various forces in East Asia. Designed by Kijiro Nambu and built by Hino Motors and Hitachi, its total production was about 45,000 guns. The Type 92 refers to the Japanese Imperial year 2592 – 1932 in the Gregorian calendar – in which the gun entered service.

An unusual characteristic of this gun was the placement of its iron sights – canted slightly to the right instead of center. A number of different sights were produced for the weapon, the Type 93 and Type 94 periscopic sights as well as the Type 96 telescopic sight. A ring-type anti-aircraft sight was also produced.

This 4×10° periscope type sight is in wonderful condition with almost all of the original black paint present on the brass, steel, and aluminum construction. The optics are still clear with an intact reticule / graticule, though they would use a good cleaning if you wished to do so to remove some of the haze. We checked and both the traverse and elevation controls are functional, with locking latches on the end of both. The original bubble level on the right side is even still fully intact! The only issue is that the original rubber / plastic eye cup degraded over the years, and only a small detached portion remains inside the case. There is also a tinted eye filter for the eyepiece, which is in very good condition.

The sight still has the original markings fully legible on the attachment dovetail, which read:

36014

4×10°
マ
ツ
ダ
No. 43175
東

One of the numbers is the serial number, while the other is probably the serial number of the gun it was matched to. The Katakana characters inside the circle are MA TSU DA, so this was made by Matsuda optical company. At the bottom is the "東" TO character indicating acceptance at Tokyo Arsenal.

The included carry case is in very good service sued condition, still retaining a lot of the exterior paint, as well as the shoulder and belt strap.  They look to be complete, however we have not seen another example that we are able to compare it to. The interior is mostly intact, however one of the wooden portions has cracked away from the rest of the molding, and the fabric covering has also torn away from a lot of areas. Measures approximately 9"H x 5 1/2" x 5 1/2".

A wonderful example ready for further research and display!