Taisho 11 Light Machine Gun Weapon drawn by Nambu , was nothing conventional : it was equipped as a bayonet and did not have a comb or tape of ammunition , cartridges were placed in a box , using common ammo boots five cartridges of the type rifles 38 . This allowed it to be municiadas by any soldier , but was subject to a system defects . Besides had feeding problems , which forced lubrication of the cartridges , poor in dry and sandy land . Finally , the ammunition it was problematic and very weak for an automatic weapon , so that already in 1939 began to be replaced . Still , it was used throughout the conflict . Description . In 1922 , the Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) adopted the Type 11 Taisho light machine gun , an unusual design created by the Gen . Kijiro Nambu . This weapon used one of the most unusual feed systems of the time , with a fixed hopper refilled with standard rifle clips . Firing the 6 . 5mm rifle ammunition , this weapon was reasonably light , although the side - mounted hopper resulted in an awkward balance . The basic action was an adaptation of the Type 03 MMG . The Type 11 machine gun is a gas operated , air - cooled , hopper - fed automatic only weapon . It employs a detachable barrel , which is finned at the front ( ahead of the gas port ) . The rear part of the barrel is enclosed within a tubular jacket which fits firmly around the barrel to provide better cooling , as the external surface of the jacket is heavily finned . The barrel jacket is screwed to the receiver , but the barrel removal procedure requires a complete disassembly of the gun . The gas system employs a long - stroke gas piston , located below the barrel . The gas block is provided with a manual gas regulator , the gas piston tube is attached to the barrel jacket . The locking system is basically the same as in the Type 03 machine gun ; it uses the same vertically - sliding locking block which is operated by cams on the operating rod and its rear vertical projection . To engage the receiver with the side locking lugs , the locking block is lowered ; to unlock it , it is lifted . The firing mechanism is relatively simple and provides only automatic fire . The trigger , sear and manual safety are mounted on a separate unit , which also forms a metallic tubular pistol grip and a base for the shoulder stock . Firing is from an open bolt . The feed system is one of most unusual of its kind , as it employs a side - mounted hopper which is filled with six standard stripper clips , holding five rounds each . Clips are stacked in the hopper and pressed down by a swinging top cover , which can be opened up and forward for loading or unloading . The bottom of the hopper is fitted with a toothed rack , which moves laterally to slide the cartridges sideways ( from right to left ) to the feed rightmost cartridge from the lowest clip into the receiver . The rack is operated through a cam slot cut in the operating rod . Once all five rounds from the clip are expended , the clip can freely fall down through an aperture in the bottom of the hopper , giving way to the next full clip . The hopper can be topped up with loaded clips at any time , but to do so in a quick manner it is desirable to leave this function to the second member of the crew . The hopper can be easily detached from the gun for maintenance or repair . Because of the inherent lack of primary extraction , this gun is also fitted with an integral oiler . When entering the feed position , each cartridge trips the oiler valve , and a small amount of oil is then squirted on the cartridge just before it is fed into the chamber . The standard furniture for the Type 11 LMG includes a folding bipod attached to the barrel jacket , and a wooden butt which is attached to the base of the pistol grip . Unlike some other pre - WW2 light machine guns , it also can be used from a “ sustained fire ” tripod , although the weapon itself is hardly suitable for a sustained fire role