Type 10 Flare Pistol

               The mainstay of the Imperial Japanese army flare pistols was the 35mm Type 10, developed in 1921 (Taisho year 10) and it saw service throughout the entirety of the Second World War. Production of the Type 10 originally began at the Tokyo army arsenal but was eventually moved to the Kokura arsenal in 1935. The Type 10 is an extremely simple and rugged flare pistol and shares many similarities with the

Type 26 revolver. The basic shape and outline of the Type 10 closely follows the style of the Type 26. It retains the spur-less hammer and double-action-only mechanism of the revolver, as well as the “swing

down” style of trigger guard with knurling to allow a positive grip when pushing open the trigger guard. This feature on the Type 26 allows the user to disassemble the revolver for maintenance but serves no purpose on the Type 10. The wood grips also share the same pattern of horizontal grooves as late war and refurbished Type 26 revolvers. The Type 10 also retains a metal lanyard ring beneath the grip. These similarities, however, are only visual and no parts can interchange between the two guns.

Like the Type 26, the Type 10 is break-action style of pistol featuring a large and robust pivot pin beneath the barrel. The barrel is locked in place by a latch above the hammer. This latch is essentially an oval shaped lug that snaps into a corresponding recess within the top of the barrel. Since flare guns typically fire relatively low-pressure cartridges, this arrangement is enough to keep the pistol locked closed upon firing. When the latch is depressed, a flat spring within the frame of the pistol pushes up from beneath the barrel, and aids in opening the action. As the action opens, an extractor pushes the empty flare casing out of the mouth of the barrel. Early Type 10 flare pistols featured a safety lever on the left side of the frame, but this feature was later deleted.

Left: Large oval shaped lug and its locking recess. Right: Flat spring aids in lifting the barrel.

Japanese 35mm flares were made in a variety of options, but generally can be divided in to two categories: smoke and star flares. Smoke flares, officially named “Dragons” by the Japanese, emitted either blue, black, green, red, white, or yellow smoke. Only black, red, and yellow have been observed in collections but references exist to the other colors in wartime intelligence reports.

Star flares were intended to be used primarily at night but could also be employed in daylight hours. These shells have been observed to come in green, red, white, and yellow colors. All varieties of star flares also came in either double, or triple clusters.

Left: White single star flare in paper shell. Right: Black Dragon (smoke) flare in brass shell.

Both types of flares were originally made in brass cases, but later war flares switched to thick paper cases with brass or steel bases in order to save critical war material. The cases measure 4 ¾ inches long (120mm) and are plugged with a thick paper disk that bears the flare type, eg: “3 star white”, or “black dragon”. All markings are in Japanese Kanji characters, and flares are also marked on the bottom of the flares base. Dragon and star shells were held aloft by a paper parachute measuring 22 inches (559mm) in diameter attached at each corner by six, 18-inch (457mm) strings. Flares for aircraft use were the same as standard dragon and star flares, except without a parachute. All types of Japanese signal flares are extremely rare today, and even most experienced collectors have only ever seen photos of them.

Type 10’s were typically issued with a leather holster and shoulder strap, although late war examples have been seen made of multi-part rubberized canvas material. The flare pistol is held quite deeply within the holster, and this can make drawing the flare gun a little difficult. Holsters also contain a small pouch for storing a folding screwdriver. Production dates are often found stamped into the closing flap of holsters, but many times this data has been worn away over the years.

Overall, the Type 10 flare pistol was a rugged and dependable signal aid that saw service in all theaters of Japanese conflict during the Second World War: from China to the Pacific islands and even in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. These signal pistols have increased in collectability in the past few years with prices steadily increasing. It’s been a great pleasure to add one to my own personal collection. Hopefully someday I’ll track down the proverbial hens teeth and score myself a flare!