The Type 97 was a gas-operated, anti-tank rifle that was used by Japan during World War II.

Japanese Type 97 20mm ATR.

You will note that the team has a Boys Anti-tank Rifle rather than the Japanese Type 97. The reason is I didn’t have the appropriate model but did have excess of Japanese prone troops and British Boys ATR’s and appropriate arms. So the problem was solved without having forking out more than a “lobster”!

A huge amount of equipment was lost following the “Fall of Singapore” and would include a large cache of Boys ATR’s – at least that’s my story. Anyway the pedants can go and revolt!

The Type 97 fired a 20x125mm Cartridge at a rate of up to twelve rounds per minute. Its magazine capacity meanwhile was seven rounds to a box type magazine which was inserted into the top of the rifle. The muzzle velocity of the weapon was around 750 meters per second. However, the Type 97 had an extremely violent recoil, so caution was advised when firing.

The total length of the Type 97 was around 210 centimetres while the total weight was fifty kilograms, unloaded. To protect the users, a small gun shield was provided and placed in front of the barrel. Furthermore, the low silhouette of the weapon made the Type 97 an effective ambush weapon. 

The weapon could penetrate up to 30mm of armor at a range of up to 250 metres and 20mm at a range of 700 metres. This meant that although it could not penetrate medium tanks, it was still effective against light targets such as trucks, landing craft, light tanks, improvised pillboxes, etc. Considering that the weight of the weapon and accessories was over sixty-eight kilograms, several men were required for transport and setup took some time.

The information in this post was gained from the WW2 History Fandom