And those stupid stick chargers. Can anyone say outdated by WW2.
There isn't a lot wrong with those chargers. They are positive and reliable under almost all conditions. The French, certainly liked theirs and used them right through their little adventure in Viet Nam. Even if they have bends in them, they are easily straightened. Not only that, they are very easily reloaded in the field. Can't say that for a belt fed.
The chargers are certainly a lot lighter than a Bren Mag as well.
Like the Bren, once the mag is inserted, the loader can ignore the charger, until its time to feed another one into the MG. Not only that, the spent charger falls off the other side of the gun and doesn't have to be removed like a spent magazine. Lots of good things about those MGs. The ammunition they were supplied with was the real problem, especially towards the end of the war.
Many of those old Japanese MGs are still in storage or use in the Far East. As long as the ammo is good to go, the MGs are good to go.
I've seen those MGs packed with mud or dirt or soaking wet. Jam in a strip charger, pull back the charging handle and it operates like it was just cleaned and oiled.
That type 3 is an incredibly resiliant and reliable MG. It was a tad on the heavy side though but for a GPMG, that isn't uncommon and often a good thing.