What goes into preparing a gun for filming? Function checking, zeroing, and generally building some familiarity. Today we will go through that process with a Japanese Type 96 Nambu LMG. Rather like some French guns, Japanese small arms from World War Two have a thoroughly undeserved poor reputation. The Nambu is an excellent LMG design - Japanese machine guns are largely derived from Hotchkiss systems, although the Type 96 is several generations removed from any French-made Hotchkiss. It is chambered for the 6.5x50mm semi-rimmed cartridge, which is one of the softest-shooting cartridges used in WW2. The Type 99 is basically the same gun scaled up to use a 7.7mm round, and those are pretty nice to shoot. The Type 96 is downright fantastic, as you can see by my target at the end. I am excited to get the chamber cleaned up and do a bunch more filming with it!

The 6.5 Japanese is a caliber that is difficult to find ammunition for, and I am grateful to Steinel for providing me a batch of theirs to use today!