The Type 92 Hotchkiss MG is said to shoot rimless 7.7 passably well (can't confirm; never tried it), but there is no question at all that it was designed for semi-rimmed cartridges, not rimless. The Type 99 rifle, on the other hand, was intended to be fired only with rimless cartridges, not semi-rimmed MG ammo.
Years ago, a friend who should have known better mailed me some fired cases that he'd shot in a T99
Arisaka
rifle, complaining that they were "hard to close the bolt on". Well, of course they were semi-rimmed T92 HMG and were binding on the extractor every time he chambered one. Not only that, but the heads of the cases were swollen and mashed flat from excessive pressure, so badly that if there had been any headstamp there it would have been pressed out. I got on the phone and told him not to shoot any more of that ammo in
anything, as the case heads seemed on the verge of bursting. Turned out that he'd removed them from 30-shot Hotchkiss strips, and had not noticed the difference in the rims.
M
,
Originally Posted by MGMike
The Type 92 Hotchkiss MG is said to shoot rimless 7.7 passably well (can't confirm; never tried it), but there is no question at all that it was designed for semi-rimmed cartridges, not rimless. The Type 99 rifle, on the other hand, was intended to be fired only with rimless cartridges, not semi-rimmed MG ammo.
PM
