1892 Type 25 survey assistance needed

BANGBANGSAN · February 4

Type 25

Edited February 4 by BANGBANGSAN

John C · February 4

That's interesting. I'm curious if any particular stamp, mark, or design feature was included to differentiate those from ones used in Japan. And are these counted in the 17,000 or so specimens that are commonly associated with the Meiji 25 serial number range?

John C.

Edited February 4 by John C
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Kiipu · February 4

John & Trystan, those Australian swords were made to a British pattern. See the 2nd edition of F&G way towards the back. Will get a page number later on.

John C · February 5

Thank you, Thomas. I briefly thumbed through my 1st edition and could not find a reference (probably just missed it). Let us know the chapter or page number when you get a chance.

John C.

Kiipu · February 5

See "Japanese-made sword for Australian military use" on pages 276 to 277.

Fuller, Richard, and Ron Gregory. Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks. Howell Press, 1997.

Scogg · April 12

Another example on eBay :thumbsup:

https://ebay.us/m/Ox8mXy

John C · April 12

Thanks, Sam. He must have just put it up because I checked yesterday! 5406 is new to the list. Interestingly, it's closest number, 5419, uses the same stamp.

John C.

Bruce Pennington · May 2

John,

After re-reading Nick's document, he mentions that after 2 years, problems with the 25 were identified and fixes proposed, but he says that he didn't know if any of them were actually applied. I have not looked at the 25s enough to say for sure, but I think the first one was never made, right?

"Improvement request 1
A button to free the sword from the scabbard was located on the backstrap of the grip, but this position being exposed to falling rain, let the rain seep into the grip from around the button, which further led to the scabbard filling with water and causing the blade to rust. In addition, the spring effect of the Chuso lock got weaker and soon would not suffice to hold the blade in the scabbard. So the idea was to eliminate water entry by discontinuing the unlock button and instead adopt leafsprings attached to the mouth piece of the scabbard, like the construction applied to bayonet scabbards, which hold the blade and prevent slipping out of the scabbard."

John C · May 2

To my knowledge, this never happened with the Meiji 25. Instead, they added those features to the new Type 32 as a replacement. I have a snippet of an article that describes the release button still being at the top of the backstrap as late as serial number "16xxx."

John C.

Kiipu · May 2

3 hours ago, John C said:

I have a snippet of an article that describes the release button still being at the top of the backstrap as late as serial number "16xxx."

FYI, Eric's sword is serial number 16416. Extract of his postmarked letter of 1999-0202 is below. Hope this helps in your research.

Quote

The serial number of my Type 25 is 16416. I found it in a junk shop about three years ago, you never know what you’re going to find!

John C · May 2

Thank you, Thomas. Yes. I have it recorded as 16416 with copies of the stamps that were also in the Banzai newsletter.

John C.

Bruce Pennington · May 13

John,

Won't add to your survey, but I thought it interesting to maybe see a guy with a 25. Posted by @Nazar HERE.

192652282.jpg.8a8d2407c9c948b3cf0e835c5a4b2862.jpg

John C · May 13

Kind of thought so too when I saw it, Bruce.

John C.

Edited May 13 by John C

Bruce Pennington · May 24

John,

What do you think of this one? The angled hand guard makes me think 25. But I think there are two lines of wire wrap visible. But then the angled hand guard wouldn't make sense for a 19 or kyu. Posted on this Warrelics thread.

file_00000000655471fda1e401490851984f.jpg.cd327abb7122ca81b14e046c13bb4721.jpg

John C · May 25

7 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

What do you think of this one?

Not sure. The angle looks a little too much but hard to tell. Scabbard seems correct. As he is an MP I was thinking could be a Patrolman style 4, however the length is off. But could be.

John C.

Scogg · May 25

Another one spotted on eBay. No scabbard

John C · May 26

Nice one, Sam. First recorded number with that particular stamp. Half way through the production run so 1895 perhaps.

John C.

BANGBANGSAN · July 29

This Type 25 turned up in China. The guard has been altered with Chinese-style decoration. It seems to be a captured war trophy left in China. I do not have clear photos of the serial number, but word is the number is 4254.

John C · July 29

Thanks, Trystan. I agree it looks like 4254. During this time frame, there would have been an inspection mark on the other side as well.

For folks into stats, we have a total of 55 recorded serial numbers, 6 different inspection stamps. 17 categories of numbers, there is a fairly even distribution, with the least being 0 (12000-12999) to 6 (5000-5999). A larger sample size would be needed to estimate the production numbers by year.

John C.

Edited July 30 by John C

Bruce Pennington · July 30

Love it, John! Really glad you have taken the 25s on for tracking and study!

BANGBANGSAN · July 30

14 hours ago, John C said:

During this time frame, there would have been an inspection mark on the other side as well.

Here you go

_20260730222850_97_87.png.afa1902bb2a7f70dc6d57d2082146150.png

John C · July 30

1 hour ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

Here you go

Great, Trystan! I'll add that to the chart.

John C.

p.s. someone really monkeyed with the cross guard. Guess they were bored.

Edited July 30 by John C

Bruce Pennington · August 1

John,

I found one on this Liveauctioneers.com page. It seems to be the same one as the one Trystan posted on page 1 of this thread. You logged it as 11393 with drag 3666. But on this one it's 11396, drag 3666. If it's the same, it has been seriously cleaned, to the point of no dents and marks on the backstrap and wood polished. I'd say they are different blades & numbers, but the drag number is the same.