This is an good example of a pre-war 1902 Army contract Nambu pistol commonly called a "PAPA Nambu" as manufactured by the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal, that was actually used on some of the Island campaigns. These were a continuation of the earlier Grandpa versions of the Nambu pistols usually without any provisions for a shoulder stock. Approximately 7100 total were produced before production changed to the later standard type 14 model. This pistol was produced under the Army contract and is so marked with the Kanji characters on the left side of the frame. The top of the receiver has the four intertwined cannon balls and the right side of the frame has the three Kanji character both signifying the "Koishikawa-Arsenal" over serial number 4909. These pistols have an adjustable tangent rear sight graduated from 100- 500 meters with a fixed inverted "v" front side. It is fitted with a set of hardwood checkered grips. It is complete with a correct nickel plated PAPA magazine that is serial numbered "1067" on the back of the magazine body .

Good overall with 95% of the original prewar blue finish remaining but having completely browned out overall. The front and rear grip strap exhibit pitting, (a little heaver on the back) with some light pitting on top of the chamber area and along the main spring housing. This is typical of what you actually see on a "real war" used pistol. It was probably used exposed to salt air in the jungles and then was just put back into a leather holster. The grips are also in good condition with no cracks of damage but showing wear across the checkering on both sides with several areas of pressure dents. It has matching numbers on the bolt, cocking knob and both grip panels. This is one of those pistols that clearly exhibits real actual use.