Tengu1957

I know where one this size is that may be for sale. I'll check to see if it's availabe, it shouldn't any where that expensive. I went to an antique gun and military show today. Did not see any ML's but there was an antique 19th century European chest with 3 drawers home defense kit for Vampires.i never thought I would see this in a small town in North Carolina. Everything you would need , stakes , mallets , crucifixes, bowie knife , etc.it wasn't the day to find Samurai stuff but at least the room was safe from Vampires !!

The bands do not want to come off so I was going to try and compress the barrel into the stock a little with a tournacate to see if that will do it. I am limited with my left arm right now and I'm sure if I engaged my wife's help it would not end well ( for me ! ).

The bore is 3.3 cm

Anthony Bore is 4.4 cm The barrel plug is supposed to be the original ram rod.

This was is signed : Bizen no kami Nagafune jyu Yokoyama Tatsuzurmon Fujiwara HoroNobu saku Dated 1848 Also states: made as 1 of 2 guns for defense of Osaka

Thanks to everyone for their help

If someone could help with name I would appreciate it. Also comment in ink on stock. Thanks

Here is another brand for a gun in that group I missed.

Jan ,finally a Mei for you to see! Here is the gun you questioned about.

Yes , I bought a copy as soon as it came out and have reread it at least 3 times. I bought copies for my friends who have interest in ML's. So little out there in English. I can't think of another Samurai weapon where there is such as lack of reference material for us in the west.

Thank you for the clarification.

Here is another group , all are signed. One has quite of bit of kanji in ink on the inside of the stock. One has an image of writing on the outside of the barrel. If you see anything interesting let me know and I can provide additional images. Thanks

These are all 1.9 cm bore guns between 17 - 22 lbs. All are signed. If you see anything that you would like to see a more detailed image of please let me know. Note the gun 3rd down from the top ,the hibasami has"toad skin" or silver drops to simulate the toad skin.

Hi Piers , please let me know what the proper way ( other than 10 monme gun would be ) to refer to these. I have a couple of publications that refer to these as TsuTsu or TuTu and call them the personal gun of the Samurai. They state that the medium to higher level Samurai would keep a larger caliber personal gun vs. the smaller "noodle" guns that ashigaru would use.

HiPeter, please tag anything you like. I would love to see it. It's a wide range of places where I found them. One came from a professional Banjo player who found it in a junk shop and was referred to me ( you can't make this up ). I am a late comer to ML's so I am learning as I go so appreciate any comments about what is here. I am going to post some groups of 10 monme guns so if you see anything that you would like to see more details of let me know.

I am mainly a sword and armor collector but always appreciated ML's. A few years ago I began to aquire them. There are not a lot of collectors in the US and I guess I have been lucky in finding them.

I am using the definition of O-zutsu as being in excess of 22 lbs and TsuTsu being between 16-22 lbs. The TsuTsu being the personal gun of the Samurai. This gun is signed and is well made. It has a silver inlay of a Phoenix the length of the barrel. Length - 109.2 cm Bore - 1.9 cm Weight - 8.7 Kilos

This is a larger gun of a shape that seems a bit different from the rest. I have taken it apart and it is signed. It has inlay of a dragon in silver. Unfortunately there is a small repair to the aiming site at the end of the muzzle that needs to be addressed. Length - 111.8 cm Bore - 1.9 cm Weight - 14.6 Kilos

This is a plain gun but I believe most of those intended for use were left plain. It's is signed but I have not received an image. Length - 104 cm Bore. - 1.9 cm Weight - 11.8 Kilos

This gun was originally owned by Cecil B. Demille ( big Hollywood director who worked between 1905 - 1958 ). He died in 1959 and the friend I bought this from bought it from his estate auction in the early 1980's. He had a big gun collection and had some Japanese items It's hard to see but the barrel has a Takeda Mon and is covered in inlay of insects , spiders , praying mantis. Length - 109.2 cm Bore. - 1.9 cm Weight - 10.62 Kilos

This is not a Daimyo gun but in the cartouche on the Barrell states " made for the governor of Matsudaira". It's signed but I have not taken in apart. The inlay is in silver of a dragon in the clouds running the full length of the barrel. Length - 99 cm Bore. - 2.54 cm Weight - 11.85 kilos

This is a bit smaller gun with Mon and dragon inlay. It is signed but has not been taken apart in a good while. Length - 99 cm Bore. 1.9 cm Weight. 12.73 kilos

This is a plain one , again signed but not taken apart. Length - 94 cm. Bore - 3.18 cm. Weight - 16.4 kilos. There seems to be a different type of site or aiming set up on this one.

Jan, you will be the first person I send the image to. I almost tore my left bicept recently and can't properly use my left arm yet so I can do much with the large guns. Since there isn't another forum for matchlocks I will list some more images if you don't mind. Most of these have never been shown to ML collectors.