This is a beautiful example of an all original Japanese Grandpa Nambu rig complete with matching pistol, magazine and original matching serialized combination shoulder stock/holster. This specific rare example of the 1902 Grandpa Nambu pistol is fully described in detail on pages 44-51 of the excellent work "Japanese Military Cartridge Handguns 1893-1945" by Derby and Brown and is listed and described on the bottom of page 50. The top of the receiver has the standard four intertwined cannon balls of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal and the three small Kanji acceptance proofs on the right side of the slide above the serial number. The front grip strap has a small Thai, Charka property marking over a small acceptance proof, (as noted in the reference above), and it is theorized that these pistol were part of an early Thai contract that was filled with already produced arsenal stored or manufactured pistols to fill specific orders. This may account for the higher serial number ranges of these contract pistols and the exceptional overall condition of this complete rig. These early 1902 Nambu pistol shoulder stock/holsters were heavily influenced by the 1896 Mauser pistol design that utilized a similar combination wooden shoulder stock/holster that attaches to the rear of the grip strap. The stock on this example appears to be of the later, larger version that has been serial numbered in only two places: 1) on the underside of the collar around the telescoping metal extension and 2) on the rear edge of the shoulder strap plate. It still has the original leather shoulder strap attached. Unlike the Mauser design, these Japanese stocks have a short all metal telescoping extension that allows the overall stock to be more compact when stored, and can be fully extended to the correct length to function, akin to a short rifle design. This early Grandpa Nambu has the very early desirable features such as the very small trigger guard, the tangent rear sight graduated from 1-5 (100-500 meters) marked on top, the small lanyard fixed loop that has been attached to the rear of the frame, the convex or domed shaped cocking knobs, the small trigger with the rounded edges, the working front grip safety, and the early style magazine release with the walnut base on the magazine. It is estimated that only a total of approximately 2,400 Grandpa Nambu pistols were ever produced, and this pistol is "one of only four" noted in the reference above that fall into this transitional serial number range and "one of only two" with matching shoulder stocks, certainly making this an extremely rare example of a Grandpa Nambu. These pistols were produced with a rust blued finish with straw colored small parts such as the extractor, trigger, bolt lock, magazine catch assembly, sear bar and pin, and recoil spring guide and are all heat treated to a golden straw color. The grip panels and base on the magazine were made of walnut. The shoulder stock is made of cherry wood, which is a subgroup of the rosaceae wood family.

Excellent overall, with 95% of the original arsenal rust blued finish remaining with just some slight edge and high spot wear on the front edge of the recoil spring housing. The muzzle area has a slight drag line down the right side of the slide from going in and out of the wooden holster. The small parts retain 80% of their straw color mostly on the trigger itself, with the other parts fading to a silver patina. The grips and magazine base are in excellent condition overall with the grips having a nice, original, dark colored walnut tone with nice checkering on both sides with only minor handling marks. The magazine base is also in excellent condition with a nice overall color with very good checkering on both sides with just a very small chip on the edge on the left side. The original cross-pin that holds the base in the magazine body is original and untouched and has the original serial number on the back of the spine. The wooden shoulder stock/holster is also in near excellent condition, with a fantastic medium brown color overall with 95% of the blue finish on the various metal parts, with most of the wear on the telescoping tube from just sliding in and out. The actual body of the wooden holster has two minor age cracks (just like the Mauser designs), one on the right side that runs from the edge of the holster to the strap plate, with one very minor age crack just starting to appear on the top where the pistol grip would normally protrude when stored. This rare "Transitional" Japanese Grandpa Nambu rig, with matching stock, is one of only two known and would be the centerpiece of any Japanese or early automatic pistol collection.