Dummies for Japanese non-firing replica gun?

#1

Another collector I know acquired two of these. They are made of turned steel plated with brass and copper. It look as if the “bullet” and “case” were made separately and then crimped together. One appears to have lost its plating, presumably where someone has tried to polish it. Are they from one of the Japanese model guns? They appear to de dimensionally and visually similar (but intentionally different from) 5.56 Nato.

They are 5.14mm (.203") “Calibre”, with a “case” length of 36.11mm (1.422").

#2

Those are not from a Shoei, MGC or Hudson replica gun.
I have those and (in the rifle calibers they manufactured (Ak, Ar, FG, MP44) they are all lathed brass of one piece in construction or multiple pieces for cap firing.
*There are some modern cap replicas that take disposable cartridges.

They may be from another manufacturer of Japanese made model gun, that I haven’t seen - but usually the cartridges have a more obviously fake base - lathed flat, or with an obviously fake primer area, they have tough firearm replica laws over there.

#3

Possibly from some sort of lead-in section of a belt or drum-mag stripper which acts to guide the end-stop of such a device with “dummies” like this? Though that doesn’t explain the dimples where pins have struck the bases…

#4

Here are some from the MG15 co-axle magazine - (I have a couple in my collection, but these are from a French site.)

Could the OP’s be shell/trench/POW-art?

#5

Thanks for the replies.

These do not match any calibre I have seen before. If they do match anything, I would like to hear it.

I think these are too well made to be Trench or POW art, they are too uniformly made. Whoever did make them would also have needed access to copper and brass plating facilities.

The primers are not actually struck. The “strikes” appear to be machined.

#6

Movie props?

#7

I have a WWII era Japanese training rifle. These were apparently used by schoolboys for early military training and indoctrination. They somewhat resemble an Arisaka Type 38, and I know that there are several different variations. The Kanji characters on my receiver translate as “Izawa Type.” They are very crudely made, and, so I have been told, were used with some sort of blank round. I have never seen another like mine, but I did see one at a gun show that was somewhat similar. I have inquired here some time ago about just what such a blank looked like, but never received any responses. Perhaps dummy rounds were used, not blanks, and that’s possibly what your rounds are. This is it:

#8

That’s an interesting possibility.

However, the only idea that these rounds are Japanese at all is simply conjecture. This is due to the fact that most of the replica guns that cycle solid brass dummies were made in Japan.