C&R · IV · 153
Type 96 light machinegun
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 96 (1936), light machinegun, cal. 6.5mm.
What this entry requires
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1936–1943.
- INFOStill an NFA firearm; only registered examples transfer, with ATF approval (26 U.S.C. 5812, 5861).
Editorial facts · Our research
- Country
JapanBasis: the ATF wording - Manufacturer
- Nambu Arms Manufacturing (Chūō Kōgyō)Basis: outside reference ¹
- Type
- MachinegunBasis: the ATF wording
- Action
- Select-fire / autoBasis: the ATF wording
- Caliber
- 6.5×50mm ArisakaBasis: the ATF wording
- Made
- 1936–1943production; ATF states no dateBasis: outside reference ²
- Service
- Military
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: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. Wikipedia, “九六式軽機関銃” ↗, maker: infobox 設計・製造: 南部銃製造所 (renamed Chūō Kōgyō in 1936)
- 2. Wikipedia, “Type 96 light machine gun” ↗, years: infobox production date 1936–1943; Japanese Wikipedia: 製造期間 1938–1943, about 41,000 until production ended in 1943; y covers both
- 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
- 1 change · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passMaker: Japanese Army arsenals → Nambu Arms Manufacturing (Chūō Kōgyō). Japanese Wikipedia infobox
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “Machine gun Type 96 1.jpg”, Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “Type 96 light machine gun”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Type 96 light machine gun was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and in World War II. It was first introduced in 1936, and fires the 6.5×50mm Arisaka from 30-round top-mounted magazines. A combination of unimpressive ballistic performance and a lack of reliability caused the Imperial Japanese Army to try to replace the Type 96 with the Type 99 light machine gun, though both saw major usage until the end of the war.