a captured Japanese ammunition table, the Type 97 round was credited with the ability to penetrate of armour at 90° at a range of . The same table credited it with the ability to penetrate of armour at . Production and service Production of the Type 97 began in 1939 at the Kokura Arsenal with the first of 950 that were made through 1941. Production ceased that year, although a further 100 rifles were built by the Nihon Seikosho Company in the first half of 1943. Including prototypes, a total of 1,108 rifles were manufactured. The anti-tank rifle cost ¥6,400 at a time when a normal rifle cost ¥77. Beginning in 1940, the barrels were chrome-plated to extend their lives. The Type 97 was assigned to IJA infantry battalions, normally on the basis of a single anti-tank platoon allocated to each infantry company. Each platoon had two 11-man sections each with a single Type 97. In addition to the section leader, there were four men assigned to carry the gun, four ammunition bearers and two horse-holders for the nine horses nominally assigned to the section. Over long distances, the Type 97 was broken down into three parts to be carried by the horses. The weapon first saw combat during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, where it reportedly disabled a number of the lightly armoured vehicles used by the Soviets at that time. The Type 97 was not extensively deployed in China until the following year, by which time they were mostly used as infantry support weapons. Reflecting this change, most of the ammunition produced in 1941–1942 was high-explosive, not armour-piercing. The rifle was not widely deployed in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, although it was used by the Teishin Shudan paratroopers of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. The Type 97's 20 mm round was no longer effective against modern tanks after 1942. The Ho-1 and Ho-3 autocannon were developed from the Type 97 for use on aircraft. See also Lahti L-39 Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr Panzerbüchse 39 PTRD-41 PTRS-41 Solothurn S-18/100 Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle MG 18 TuF Notes Citations References Further reading External links Type 97 on Forgotten Weapons Type 97 on Modern Firearms Anti-tank rifles World War II infantry weapons of Japan 20 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1930s