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Posted (edited)

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 by John C
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Posted

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.

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Posted

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.

Posted

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.

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  • 2 months later...
Posted

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.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

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."

Posted

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.

Screenshot 2026-05-02 at 10.42.53 AM.png

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Posted
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!

 

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Posted

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

 

John C.

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