komi

Wasn't aware I was, I was just asking for any info on examples that people here know of. But sorry if I was too generic for you in this topic, I won't ask these kinds of things in future. I thought that might be what the thing underneath was, thanks for your take on it.

Does anyone know if the multi-barreled examples of Japanese pistols tended to have something fixing the barrels in place when not indexing to the next one, or did they freely rotate? Found a couple examples online (e.g. this) but not much technical info given.

Cheers guys, good to have the experts in. Would be interesting to see a genuine example of a turret-style matchlock out of Japan if indeed this example was very loosely based on something Japanese that the maker once saw. Going to have to keep up the google hunting a bit...

I wouldn't have the bucks to shell out on that kind of thing anyway, at this point it's just about trying to learn a bit of the history behind these things and find decent literature on the subject. Thanks for the info so far.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who was suspicious of that second gun. To me it looks more southern Asian... Anyone know if these 'turret revolver' style guns were authentic to Japan? I've seen photos of the same online but no literature that talks about them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoNUgQZ-wf8

Regarding multi-shot Japanese pistols I've found two images which claim to be such things, both matchlocks: This one looks like it was posted on a forum of some sort, I couldn't find any info other than it was claimed to be Edo period: https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0293/40/1389097893112.jpg This one appears to be an old auction listing: https://www.collectorebooks.com/gregg01/Lot-97.htm If anyone has seen examples like either of these before it would be interesting to know any details on who made them, what date, etc. Also I'm no expert, but the style of that second pistol looks a bit unusual for Japanese (e.g. grip and trigger), at least compared to tanzutsu/bajozutsu examples I've seen before...

Contacting the seller will help, but as a business I wouldn't expect them to tell me whether theirs is the only option or if there are alternative makers I should consider. They look pretty decent to me. I just thought there was a chance some enthusiasts here might have handled them before and could give me their own opinions, I like to do a bit of research on things like this before I shell out the cash. That's unfortunate what you say about Japan. Running a charge of bp through an antique hundreds of years old is something I'd never do.

Does anyone here have experience with one of the repro "Tanzutsu" manufactured by Arsa? I was browsing their catalogue but didn't see a price mentioned. I'm not in a position to buy one just yet but I'd like to get some idea of the price range of these, and whether folks here would recommend them or some other manufacturer? So far Arsa is the only company I've seen who does functional repro pistols, and they look pretty decent. http://www.avancargas-arsa.com/paginas/armas/tanzutsu.htm

Thanks, that's interesting to read. I had also heard of the Japanese experimentation with wheellock pistols, but as I understood it these were more of a novelty than the matchlock 'bajozutsu' or tanzutsu', and it doesn't seem Japan went any further than matchlock for their standard ignition systems until after Perry's arrival. Do you know what the pellets in those Japanese pellet-ignition guns were made of? I've seen examples of western-made 'pill lock' guns that used pellets of mercury fulminate.

Thanks very much for your reply, that is helpful information and seems to be along the lines of what little I had read on this subject before. I guess the term "bajozutsu" could be somewhat equivalent to "carbine" when used in the cavalry sense rather than "pistol." Like you I noticed handguns were much rarer than long guns. One thing I noticed is that all the examples of 'tanzutsu' and 'bajozutsu' I have seen are single-shot guns (much like the full sized muskets). Do you know if there were any matchlock handguns produced in Japan that experimented with multi-shot technology? I seem to remember once seeing an example of a multi-barreled Japanese pistol, but that was a percussion gun ca. mid 19th century.

Just had a few questions about the nomenclature and history of these firearms types. I've seen 'tanzutsu' and 'bajozutsu' both used in English writing to describe pistol-sized variants of the matchlock teppo guns. Could anyone clarify if there's a clearer distinction between the two in Japanese? The only difference I've noticed is references to bajozutsu being used on horseback, I haven't seen tanzutsu used in the same context. Also does anyone know the approximate time frame for when these gun variants were produced in Japan? Did they start off pretty much concurrently with the introduction of full-sized teppo, or did it take a bit longer for them to catch on? I've also seen an example of a bajozutsu that was claimed to be converted from matchlock to percussion in the "early Meiji", so am I right to assume these variants were produced alongside full-sized teppo at least up to the end of the Edo period?

I see, thanks very much for explaining.

Ah I'm sorry, I misunderstood you and thought that the waterproof cover had a separate pin that somehow fitted to the gun. Thanks for clarifying that.

Thanks for that info. Do you know the details on how that 'central pin' works to attach the cover? Without having seen one of those in person I'm just trying to visualize how it would have attached to the firearm.

Interesting, thanks for sharing that. Do you have any idea what the time frame is for the item in your photo?