Source: ATF P 5300.11 · Curios or Relics List · Jan 1972 – Apr 20253,573 entries · 4 sections
The C&R RegisterA finding aid to the ATF Curios or Relics List, for Type 03 collectors
C&R · IV · 148

Type 89 aircraft machinegun (Vickers pattern)

Section IV: still an NFA firearm, also a curio or relic

Official wording

ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION IV · VERBATIM · PDF P. 86 ↗

Japanese, Type 89 (1929), Vickers pattern machineguns, cal. 7.7mm.

What this entry requires

  • INFOATF states no date; production was about 1929–1945.
  • INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).

Editorial facts · Our research

Country
Japan
Manufacturer
Not stated (Japanese manufacture)
Type
Machinegun
Action
Select-fire / auto
Caliber
7.7mm
Made
1929–1945production; ATF states no date¹
Service
Military
Search listings ↗Check a specific gunReport an error ↗

Source

Official wording
ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section IV · PDF p. 86 ↗ · ATF original ↗
Entries
1 line
Verbatim check
Checked against the PDF text before every release
Editorial facts
Confidence: Medium · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
References
  1. Wikipedia, “八九式固定機関銃” ↗, years (estimate: partly supports it): licence bought 1927, adopted (制式採用) 1929; in service c. 1940 on the Ki-27 and displaced by the Ho-103 by the start of the Pacific War; no production end stated, so the 1945 end is our estimate
Fact tags
  • ATF the ATF wording states it.
  • REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
  • ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
  • NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
Source checked
20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
Corrections
2 changes · see below

Correction history

  1. Evidence passEditorial confidence: High → Medium. Re-rated after its references were re-checked and some details couldn't be confirmed.
  2. Evidence passMaker: Japanese Army arsenals → Not stated (Japanese manufacture)

All corrections · How corrections work

Historical context

Type 89 machine gun (base model shown for Type 89 aircraft machinegun (Vickers pattern))
Shown: the Type 89 twin flexible gun, not the Vickers-pattern fixed Type 89.

Image: Wikimedia Commons, “7.7mmType89DualMG.jpg” by Sturmvogel 66, CC BY-SA 3.0. Retrieved October 2026.

Summary: Wikipedia, “Type 89 machine gun”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.

FROM WIKIPEDIA

The Type 89 machine gun refers to two unrelated Imperial Japanese Army aircraft machine guns. Its Imperial Japanese Navy counterparts are the Type 97 machine gun (fixed), and Type 92 machine gun.