Gasam

Well I have had some wine but still: wrong. just wrong. One could just as easily have applied for a trademark on the term "Statue" or "Painting". Noone would have allowed that.... Just my 2c. Edit to correct typos.

Heyas all, Busy life last 6 months but still checking in here Gold rabbit menuki that are among my favourite items in my humble accumulation Come to think of it I believe thay have been posted in these fine forums earlier. I like them a lot!

USD 50 donation made :-) Most well spent money in ages I suspect, it has only been a couple of days since I posted a picture of what I was sure was a genuine gunto that proved to be fake. So once again saved by the boards knowledgeable and friendly members. And Brian, good job in running NMB. How you manage (must be a heck of a lot of work) I will never understand :-) Chees,

Thanks a bundle guys :-) Cheers and have a nice weekend!

Heyas, My copy of Military Swords of Japan is on loan, but I would have asked this question here anyways as I do not know so much about how good fakes of these swords are getting. I assume there are decent fakes out there. Anyways, seller is asking equiv of USD430 for this metal hilted NCO gunto, I am interested on account of not having one. (Metal tsuka that is :-) ) To me the pictures show a genuine sword, in not too shabby condition to boot. I was worried that the tsuka did not have copper colour, but apparently these were made out of aluminum as well. Just something about how the pictures seem "right" to me, it looks real. To my eyes anyways. So the question I guess is, do you gentlemen agree that sword is most likely genuine? PS: Found also a clearly fake sword. enclosing also a single picture of that. Cheers,

Go get those dwankies!

Hi all, Summer time (well up here at least ) , and I just wanted to touch base with my tanegashima-project :-) A detailed description of restoration project will be posted with an ample supply of photos when finished for those interested, here is a quick cellphone picture of the barrel protector and the barrel protector retainer. Shape (particularly of retainer) to be refined and micro scratching taken out, then patination. Not too shabby :-) Next is front mekugi for retaining barrel then pan cover and lastly the rod for compacting powder and ramming in bullet. Have to do all of this in between everything from family obligations to work, so this will take some time, but will get there eventually. Finding someone local willing to sell small amount of brass stock was hard, and when it arrived, the brass was pretty darn hard too! Expected it to be softer for some strange reason. So filing etc takes time. Anyhow it is progressing steadily. Thanks for looking! Cheers,

Hi, Haven´t pictures from process, in retrospect should have taken one or two. Here is a picture from finished vent. It is very close up so the whole thing looks a bit crude. But I think a definite improvement over how it was :-) Cheers and have a nice weekend all! Edit: dont know why this was posted twice...

Ah ye, this would be bad Brian. Duly noted! I could not think of another way though, luckily it went ok. Cheers,

Hi, I wanted to share this method of cleaning out a blocked vent hole. It is entirely possible that this method is well known, but I have tried googling it to no avail and had to invent it myself (or at least reinvent it if commonly used). At any rate: the vent hole of my Tanegashima was completely clogged, to the point where it was sold to me as "undrilled, probably ment to be drilled open in case of expected imminent use". Poking around the bottom and inwards with a needle revealed that the vent was not undrilled, merely filled with rust, and caked dirt. Quite hard to remove. The needle would only work for so long, as the vent hole changed angle after a few millimeters, and then started going inward towards barrel. After having barrel for almost 2 weeks, qualified gunsmith declined to try to open. Unsure of why, I spoke only to fellow at counter of gunstore. (Wisely (I assume) he also declined to remove bisen on account of him deciding that it was just as likely to break as come loose). Therefore I took about 2 inches off the end of a bicycle gear wire and attached it to a drill. I had to bent back a few strands to make it flexible enough to bend into and around/through the corner of the vent. Drilling carefully, the wire slowly but surely went all the way through and into the barrel. I had to use two pieces of wire as they kind of disintegrated with prolonged use. Having drilled all the time in the direction of the twist of the wire, I now reversed the drill, to rotate against the direction of the wire twist. The wire was fully inserted before reversing rotation. This caused wire to open up and press against inside of vent wall. This removed a lot of gunk and dirt, and vent is now completely open. Cheers!

hey, Quick upate then I'll go quiet, I promise :-) Vent hole was found, seems to go slightly sideways for several millimeters, then it must be starting to go horizontal now or it would miss the barrel. full of dry caked debris. will take to qualified gunsmith tomorrow and see what they think. I will now commence with this restoration project, and you will hear from me again on this gun when it is in better shape :-) cheers,

Hi again! Dont know what to say except thanks a bundle, this board never seizes to amaze me in both its expertise and helpfulness. Thanks again all! Cheers

A few more pictures of whole gun. One from side and one where barrel is bottom up and inside of stock can be seen. Took one from directly back of barrel so you shape can be seen, half circle plus 5 flats, this shape continues to rear sight and becomes round over whole circumference of barrel save for top where it is flat to muzzle ornamentation.. Will be gentle with bisen, Would not want it to snap. Better to leave it in place if too stuck. Will check for vent. would be fun if could fire blank black powder charges without projectile. I realise of course that there are stunning fantastic exemplars of Japanese guns out there, some I have seen recently on Pinterest look like they were almost made yesterday, and this one is not all that, missing parts and stuff :-) But guns are cool, and this one, ye I quite like :-) will attempt light restoration. Thanks again folks for helping and input Cheers,

Hi again all, The gun came today and once again I was able to relive the feeling of holding a piece of history! Of course I broke the rule of getting something about which I had done no previous studies (books are on the way). But I kept my own rule number one, never buy anything you do not like. I really, really like this gun :-) The barrel was not secured by mekugi, as it is missing (the mekugi, not the barrel!). Still it was firmly stuck, but came loose after some convincing. Pleased to find lots of ink kanji on inside of stock. Some corresponds with kanji on barrel. Have tried decifering some kanji, will proceed more with this. All inputs appreciated as always :-) Gun total weight is close to 5 kg. calibre is 1.6 cm / 0.63 inches if my measurements hold water. So about 6 - 6,5 monme? One thing: cannot find vent hole, but pan is a bit dirty. Maybe it is under that dirt. If not, is it it common that guns were undrilled? Seems strange. Action works. Hammer falls a bit to side of where it should, but easy to see why, it was slightly bent at some point. Easy fix. Took some pictures inside of bottom of barrel with snake cam. Maybe there is a vent hole there, but very, very uncertain. Think I will clean this up a bit, attempt to unscrew bisen. Can I put WD-40 or similar down barrel, is that allowed? also around bisen on outside? Gently heating the "chamber" with heat gun? No? Pictures to follow. Rather a few I am afraid. Cheers, and have a splendid, terrific weekend :-) , I surely will studying this

Hi again. Thank you all so much for replying and sharing your knowledge and advice! I will study all of this :-) Yes I will post pictures, the ones in my first post are the only ones I have so far, but in about 14 days time it will arrive and will post some details then of course for those interested. Thank you all again! cheers,

heyas again, I will study this gun and others like it to find out if I can make replacement parts. Or have someone make what I cant. I think it must have an internal spring due to the position of the hinge of the "hammer" (is this what is called a serpentine in english?). Does not seem to be room for external spring under it? Also I cannot see shadow or markings etc where external spring would have been. The lock must be fastened through the "cheek piece" of the stock with some type of pegs or something, but some or most of them seems to be missing. (or so it seems because on pictures of others somewhat like this one they are easy to see on opposite side of lock). Also there seems to have been a front barrel retaining ring as per markings on the fore-stock? Have to say looking forward to receiving it. No measurements or weight given. haha, what if it turns out 15 cm long miniature toy :-) Or even better, a 15 kg giant gun. time will tell. Are there any books on the Japanese tanegashima /teppo/ hinawa-ju that are currently available and any good? Thanks again and cheers, and have a nice weekend,

It shall be done :-) Cheers,

Hi again, Invaluable advise as always :-) Thank you both for replying and the sound advise and also kind words about the gun. Thought I would try to fabricate pan cover and in the forums I found an old post showing how to make front barrel retaining ring from brass. Thank you again both ! Cheers,

Heyas, Awaiting my first and in all likelyhood only (hoping not to discover yet *another* thing to collect) Japanese matchlock. Nothing special (as far as I can tell anyways), few parts missing but seems simple and utilitarian, just the way I like stuff :-) Plus it was for cheaps. Enclosing a picture for anyone interested. I was wondering if it would be considered a big no-no to sand and refinish the stock? The iron parts I would just clean (scrape) with something harder than red rust but softer than patina. Inside barrel I would brush with brass gun cleaning brush I thought, provided bisen will come out. Brass parts just leave as is or polish gently with clean microfibre cloth. Or so I was planning anyways. Sounds good? Thank you as always, and cheers,

thank you all once again for sharing your knowledge :-)

heyas: found one small topic on this while searching around. got mantetsu to today and apart from regular markings on nakago (inkluding the mukden arsenal stamp), I discovered these markings on the nakago mune. Fuller and Gregory I think makes no or scarce mention of these markings. I will proceed in trying to decifer, but if those are further arsenal markings then they might not translate I guess. so: were such markings om nakago mune commonplace anyone know? this is first post from cellphone, hope it works out. Cheers,

Heyas again, Thank you all for your input. Seller sent some kissaki pictures. Think I see the faintest hint of a yokote in one of them. I have consulted the one book I have on military swords of Japan, not much to find there. Very uncertain about this one. Asking price in the 700 USD range. Might risk it at that price. Koshirae seems intact save for the metal loop at end of tsuka and the tassel. Grey: The shiny area at the tip is a reflection I am told. Once again thank you all for your time.

Heyas, Have come across a mantetsu to. Sellers pics are not so good, but seller has enough understanding of Japanese swords to state that the sword has no yokote but a clearly visible boshi in the kissaki area. So, anyone ever come across a Mantetsu without yokote? To me at this point it looks like blade abuse? Thank you for looking :-)

Heyas, Thats the one yes :-) Cheers,

HI, I saw in one of the countless movies about making of Japanese swords one interesting bit: when the warrior was called out to battle, they sharpened the sword in a specific manner (it was even demonstrated), whereas the edge was moved rather (i thought) brutally along a wetstone. It appeared they did this only once on each side. This was to prepare the polished edge for battle if I recall correctly. As I recall, the edge became a little coarser, but better for long time between sharpenings. If I could only recall the film. Will try to figure out. Cheers,