Type 96 light machine gun The was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and in World War II . History and development . Combat experience in the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and subsequent actions in Manchuria and northern China reaffirmed the Japanese army of the utility of machine gun s to provide covering fire for advancing infantry . The earlier Type 11 Light Machine Gun was a lightweight machine gun , which could be easily transportable by an infantry squad into combat . However , the open hopper design of the Type 11 allowed dust and grit to enter into the gun , which was liable to jam in muddy or dirty conditions due to issues with poor dimensional tolerances . This gave the weapon a bad reputation with Japanese troops , and led to calls for its redesign . The Army ’ s Kokura Arsenal tested the Czech ZB vz . 26 machine gun , samples of which had been captured from the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China , and ( after borrowing certain elements ) issued a new design , designated the Type 96 light machine gun , in 1936 . While the Japanese design was completely different internally it did resemble the Vz26 in its basic layout using the top feed magazine and a bipod mount . The type 97 tank gun however was a license built copy of the ZB design and used in the tanks of the Japanese army . Design . Type 96 Light Machine Gun was almost identical in construction to the Type 11 in that it was an air - cooled , gas - operated design based on the French Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun . As with the Type 11 , it continued to use the same 6 . 5x50mm Arisaka cartridges as the Type 38 rifle infantry rifle , although the more powerful 7 . 7x58mm Arisaka round had already been adopted and was starting to enter into service with front line combat units . The major difference with the Type 11 was the top - mounted curved detachable box magazine holding 30 rounds , which somewhat increased reliability , and lessened the weight of the gun . The finned gun barrel could also be rapidly changed to avoid overheating . The Type 96 had a blade front sight and a leaf rear sight , with graduations from 200 to 1 , 500 meters , with windage adjustment . A 2 . 5X telescopic sight with a 10 degree field of view could be attached at the right side of the gun . The Type 96 also had a folding bipod attached to the gas block , and could be fitted with the standard infantry bayonet , which could be attached to the gas block below the barrel . The gun was capable of automatic fire only , although it was possible to fire single shots by briefly pulling the trigger . However , arms designer Kijiro Nambu did nothing to address the dimensional tolerance issue between the bolt and gun barrel , which led to frequent failures when fired cases became stuck in the chamber . In order to ensure reliable feeding ( theoretically ) , Nambu resorted to oiling the cartridges via an oil pump in the magazine loader . In practice , this tended to worsen the problem instead , as the oiled cartridges tended to become coated with dust and sand . This feature and its inherent faults was dropped with the introduction of the Type 99 light machinegun . Combat record . The Type 96 came into active service in 1936 and was intended to replace the older Type 11 ; however the Type 11 had already been produced in large quantities , and both weapons remained in service until the end of the war . The Type 96 was regarded as rugged and reliable , but its 6 . 5 mm bullets lacked penetration against cover , and the design was supplemented by the more powerful Type 99 light machine gun with the larger 7 . 7 mm bullet in 1937 . After World War II it was used by Indonesian forces during the Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch forces notably during the Attack on Jogjakarta 1949 .