North China Type 19 Handgun

The North China Type 19 (北支一九式拳銃) was a military sidearm produced during World War II by the Empire of Japan. Produced in China during the final stages of World War II, the North China Type was most likely made in an effort to supply troops based in Manchuria when supply lines from Japan became disrupted by Allied submarines and bombing. Officially approved by the Chief of the Ordnance Bureau, the Type 19 is very scarce with only eleven surviving examples known. The pistol appears to be a redesign of the Type 14 Nambu pistol but all pertinent ordinance records lost during World War II.