Sharing a t95 copper tsuka NCO ....

[Scott Gunto]

This is a copper handle/tsuka T95 NCO that a late friend aquired many years ago at a militaria show.It has some cool battle damage on the saya and a nice clean blade.Tje numbers don't match but my guess is it got MMd at some early point 

...what are the odds of finding a Cu handle saya to compliment it post war?. One question I have is the grey primer color of the saya.Ive seen this on other copper handles and think it may be a primer coat. There is typical army green on some surfaces still present. Anybody have any input on this gray paint? 

 

[Scott Gunto]

 

 

[Kiipu]

13 minutes ago, Scott Gunto said:

Anybody have any input on this gray paint?

 

Hi Scott, it is as you surmise, a primer coat that was used on the early Suya made Type 95s.  Both @Shamsy and @Stegel have commented about this fact and I think Stegel has posted closeup pictures showing both colors.

[Scott Gunto]

[Scott Gunto]

It appears the nco was doing the Banzai thing when a belt fed mg clipped him midstream..one hit was a bounce off(lead core) and then an AP round in the 1919 belt pierced the saya like butter...just my hypothesis....