pcfarrar

I purchased the Francis Allan book "Japanese Imported Arms of the Early Meiji Period". Was well worth the price as it is an excellent reference. In the book there is an Enfield Cavalry carbine with the same Hiroshima registration marks. I contacted the author and he was quite surprised to see another and suspected both carbines may have come from the same Han unit.

You can see what looks like a Yama quite clearly but the rest above is too heavily worn out to see.

The other inscription isn't quite visible in the photo. It goes from top to bottom at the base of the stock. It's too far gone to translate I think.

I discovered the gun has another inscription on the brass butt plate. Looks like a rack number (5857) from being stored in an armoury perhaps? There is also another line of kanji on the stock but it is very feint and hard to see but definitely ends with a yama.

I bought a couple, seem good so far. I still prefer the microdear, but as they are impossible to get hold of in UK these are adequate replacements.

I found an old book that stated that the clan in Hiroshima were trained in British military tactics in the late 1860s. I presume this gun could possibly be a result of that training? Or is it more likely to have been a private purchase by a samurai?

Thanks Peter, I will try and get a copy of that book. I will also post some more photos when I have the gun next weekend.

Thanks for the help Peter. Its an Artillery carbine with 3 groove rifling, the lock is dated 1866.

Does anyone know if the markings on this Enfield 1853 carbine are Chinese or Japanese? Thanks, Peter

How do they compare to the Microdear cloths?

Lack of experience of oil tempered WW2 showato most likely. I expect the average NBTHK judge has had next to no exposure to oil tempered swords.

$67 shipping to the UK, bit of a rip off. You can buy them on Amazon.jp but for some reason they won't ship them to the UK.

Tetsu Kai group, the jist of it is he's from a group of smiths who worked under Amatsu Masakiyo with no connection to the Minatogawa jinja. The kikusi is a later addition.

This sword was discussed on Facebook it's not a minatogawa smith or sword.

I've got #3 although I don't really want to sell it

I've definitely seen it before but I expect it was on the sword Ian now owns.

The jigane looks good, nice tight ko-itame with chikei. Wouldn't cost much to get the tsuka sorted in the UK either.

What auction house did you buy it from as they generally don't accept returns. £950 isn't too bad in the UK, you should be able to trade it in at a militaria fair and get your money back.

Doesn't that calculate to being in August not July.

Payment sent

https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/4665?token=3guphrey Looks good but I'm guessing most people here don't have an Oculus Rift or a PC capable of running one. I will certainly give it a try on mine though when it's available.

It looks to be a modern cast fake sorry....

Yes I'm in

I will take a copy.

Of relevance to this thread, Bill Tagg is planning to list a mint condition shinbu-to for sale on his website Liverpool militaria. These are like mantetsu and designed for cold climates but much rarer (only 2000-3000 made). I checked out Bill's today and it was a very interesting blade far nicer than any mantetsu. It has a visible hada and could easily be mistaken for a gendaito. It will be well worth checking out for anyone interested in these swords. ohmura has an article on them: http://ohmura-study.net/207.html Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the blade but here is the signature.