Japanese Light Machine Gun Surfaces in California Traffic Stop
A traffic stop in part of California known more for golf, wine, and scenic drives than full-auto World War II relics turned up something a bit unusual.
A sheriff’s deputy in Monterey County– home to the picturesque and affluent Carmel, Big Sur, and the Salinas Valley region– performed a stop last month on a female driver and a male passenger. An MCSO deputy, accompanied by his K9 Partner “Rocket,” arrived, and the dog alerted on “controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.” Going beyond that, deputies recovered a loaded M1911 pistol, a “loaded AR pistol carbine,” and a Japanese Type 11 light machine gun.
A press release from the agency stated that two of the three firearms did not have serial numbers, but did not elaborate on which two.
Designed by “Japan’s John Browning,” Kijiro Nambu, the 22-pound Type 11 was the first light machine gun to be manufactured in the country when it went into production in 1922. A modification of the French Hotchkiss of WWI fame, Nambu’s design deleted that gun’s awkward 30-round feed strip for a hopper that could be stoked with 6.5mm Arisaka via five-round stripper clips designed for the inventor’s previous Type 38 rifle.
While some Type 11s were brought back to the U.S. by returning veterans and often made their way to display in VFW halls and museums– in deactivated conditions– functional and transferable Type 11s are scarce on the NFRTR and command a price typically over $10,000. I can only find three coming to the auction block in the past few years, and two of the three specify that the gun is in DEWAT condition.
Going beyond that, 6.5x50mm ammo is niche and runs around $2.50 a round for factory-new soft-point hunting loads, about all that is in production these days, for folks with sporterized Type 38s. However, and here is a significant caveat, the Type 11 had to use underpowered ammunition to function properly, rather than full-strength loads. So, if you had one that worked, good luck finding the right ammo for it to actually get cyclic.
Monterey County is strongly Democratic, and the Sheriff, progressive Tina Nieto, is a noted “champion for restorative justice. While long facing criticism for flouting local traffic laws herself, Nieto was outspoken on the traffic stop that netted the Type 11.
“This is a WWII era type of machine gun capable of firing over 500 rounds per minute,” said Nieto in a statement, although it is not clear if the Type 11 is serviceable, or if the gun was stolen from a collector or museum. “It’s a weapon of war. It’s a weapon of mass destruction.”
Knabb was booked into the Monterey County Jail and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a machine gun, possession of a controlled substance while armed, possession of an unserialized firearm, and other charges. His bail was set at $50,000.
Despite being found with a “weapon of mass destruction,” Knabb was not listed as “in custody” on Oct. 5.