This is a great example of a rare WWII Japanese Type 19 (Japanese Variation) North China manufactured Nambu pistol. It has been estimated that only approximately 50 of these were ever manufactured, and this example is one of only 5 or 6 even known today. This specific serial number 34 has been documented in the book "The Hand Cannons of Imperial Japan" on pages 198-205. After the fall of Nanking in 1937/38, the occupying China Expeditionary Forces (CEF) of Japan began to rely heavily on the industrial base in occupied China to supplement their own armaments needs. Due to the continued loss of weapons and supplies being sunk by American submarines in the waters between Japan and China, in 1944 the Japanese commandeered the North China Engineering factory in Peking to begin the manufacture of an improved, somewhat war expedient version of the Type 14 Nambu pistol. There were very few of both the Japanese and Chinese variations ever produced with an estimate of maybe 100 total (50 of each model) before the war ended. Although similar in outward appearance to the Japanese Type 14, they had one major difference in that they used a one-piece trigger guard and frame assembly vs. the original two piece design. This was a huge savings in labor, machining time, and material costs, and although slightly heavier than an Type 14, it made it a better pistol. This example is the Japanese variation and can be identified by the three small circular rings on the left front side of the slide. It has the takedown lever on the left rear side. The grip angle is the same as the Type 14 Nambu and so are the grip panels; however, they were made from an indigenous Chinese wood. The various parts are numbered "27," including the back of the magazine body; however, this is actually an assembly number, and that’s how they maintained controls of the parts. This is a rare find for the advanced automatic pistol collector.