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Matchlock barrel and stock translation please


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Thank you very much. If I understand these correctly, it was common that year to have marked the stocks for registration?

 

I just finished removing the barrel, but there are no futher kanji to be seen. I assume it is it safe to say this piece was made earlier than 1872? After a brief search, I have not seen any comparable matchlocks that are marked Tsuruga.

 

Mike

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Dear Mike,

Your gun is somewhat unusual in a several of ways. These Flat Butt guns were produced not in one region, but several. Know examples were made in Kunitomo, and Sakai among other areas. Virtually all have a serpentines with a bamboo design near the pivoting pin. Virtually all are made with an inside coil spring rather than the outside spring as seen on your example. The pan cover too is unusual in shape. Next the inlay on the top of the barrel is rather crude and poorly executed for a Tanegashima. My opinion is that it may well be late in manufacture as the quality is just not there for an early example.

 

In 1871, the Emperor Meiji forbade the wearing of swords as a first step in Westernizing the Army. The Samurai, thus stripped of their traditional swords turned to foreign pistols for personal adornment. This brought about fear in government circles ( got rid of one weapon from the samurai, the sword only to have them adopt an even more dangerous pistol ). A special bureau was established to register every firearm in the country. This began in 1872.

 

It is interesting to note, even with the influx of modern western type firearms, ... a few die hard Matchlock Smiths were still producing traditional Tanegashima. One such Smith was a man named Rikizo Yoshida and he was known to be making traditional Tanegashima during the period 1870 - 1896.

He may well have been the last. I am quite proud to own one of his Tanegashima, and the quality is top notch.

 

If you have the inkling, ... I would like to see a close up of the entire lock, a close up of the pan cover assemblage, the butt end and side view of the butt end. Also the stock pin hole covers ( Mekugi ana covers ). Also a side view near the muzzle of the gun.

 

... Ron Watson

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Thank you so much for the explanation. I have always been fascinated by the matchlocks but the when I found this one for sale (along with a common WWII parade sword) I couldn't pass it up. The gentleman says he has a katana his grandfather brought back as well and hopefully I will be able to get that too.

 

I will take pictures tomorrow so I have better lighting and will be sure they are as detailed as possible.

 

Mike

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Not much to add to Ron's detailed post above, but I would second his request for additional photos, especially of the pan area with the lid open. The barrel may have been very rusty and cleaned with something quite abrasive.

 

One thing about flat butts. Agreed that there were many that do not seem to come with any further attributes of any particular school, but a perfectly flat butt in combination with some other factors would immediately point towards the Tazuke Ryu school. Apart from the diagonal butt cut, they were often internal spring locks as Ron says, and had a distinctive sealed pan cover, for example, not the usual open-sided type. Tazuke were favoured by the Tokugawas and many were made in Kunitomo. The elaborate mekugi hole surrounds on your gun are reminiscent of Kunitomo or Hino in Nagahama, east of Lake Biwa but the gun is more a generic example of a Tanegashima matchlock without any real strong association with either geopgraphic area or school of gunnery. It looks as though it has had quite a lot of use. The pan will tell more.

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Being a muzzle-loader shooter for many years I naturally ask the first question of prime importance...is it loaded?

Hopefully this has been checked, but as you said you are new to them, maybe you'd like to check?

So, just slide the ramrod or a thin wooden dowel down the barrel and mark the muzzle with your thumb...when you pull it out again hold the rod alongside the barrel...check the length from your thumb to the bottom end of the chamber...if the stick measures equal/full length of the barrel it is unloaded...if it stops a bit short the full length of the barrel "there is something still in there".

 

You may laugh, but we had a very experienced (in modern arms) ex-army armourer as one of our restoration armourers at the museum. A hand-held muzzle-loading whaling harpoon gun (barrel only) was brought in to him to clean up and "free up". He didn't check, and put the oxy on the breech area while holding his hand over the muzzle...bang! A portion of 'something like a projectile" plus two of his fingers went out through the roof of the workshop. He was much more careful after that... 100 year old gunpowder will still go off. If I had been there I would have certainly checked.

Just sayin'

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Thanks Mike. Well, there are still signs that it might be Tazuke Ryu school of gunnery, despite the 'reconstruction' that has taken place with the pan and lid.

 

One quick question. When you removed the barrel looking for the signature, did you notice if the head of the large Bisen breech screw is round or square in shape? Just curious.

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Dear Mike,

Hate to ask for one more picture, ... but a photo of the breach plug would possibly confirm my suspicions that this is of the Tazuke Ryu ( school ). Also a photo of the muzzle and end stock ( side view please ). Most Tanegashima have a square end to the breach screw ( plug ), but for some reason many of the Tazuke Ryu sweated their breach plugs in place ( not threaded ), and therefore round. The butt is missing a brass reinforcing band which helped protect the butt when held against the ground for loading. The configuration of the pan and pan cover to me at least also confirm this to be somewhat of an aberrant however even for the Tazuke Ryu. PIERS, ... help me out here, ... have you seen this style of pan before ? The serpentine is squashed where the match cord fits. Part of the brass barrel protector ( amaooi ) appears also to be missing.

 

It is my opinion ( but first I'd like to see a photo of any damage to the stock near the muzzle ) that the gun could be restored or at least vastly improved. I would not spend a great deal of money on restoration however as the inlay work on the barrel would be very difficult to do correct, and given its amateurish work to begin with this is not a high quality Tanegashima. Unusual yes, but not a great Tanegashima.

 

... Ron Watson

 

PS. Just noticed Piers and my post have crossed paths in cyber space.

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As Ron says, Tazuke School tended to have round-headed breech screws, but there were exceptions, especially as times changed and more variety became accepted. The larger guns on the other hand tended to preserve conventional features more, apparently.

 

George, a sobering story of carelessness.

 

One of the tubes of my Ch/K three-barelled Sanganju was blocked and some gentle twizzling removed what looked like fine black powder. This I kept in a container, hoping one day to have it analysed. It fizzes and pops when a flame is introduced to a little pile. Unblocking the Lantaka yesterday I scratched out a very little and found it was hard packed sand, so no problem there. One of our troop members bought a blocked cavalry matchlock early this year and they had great fun when they heated it with a blowtorch, they were saying. There must be so many blocked barrels out there, possibly in battle ... but no, I do not want to go there. :shock:

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Dear Mike,

A picture ( side view ) of the muzzle and forend wood please.

Thanks, ... Ron

 

PS. Piers and I are having our e-mails crossing today ! Listen to Piers, and George, ... I own seven matchlocks, and out of 7 , ... 3 were still loaded upon receipt. The reason why muzzle loading firearms were often left loaded was because the only easy way of unloading was to fire them, ... and this then necessitated a cleaning operation taking up an hour of time plus a messy job. It was just more convenient to leave them loaded. Convenient but not a good idea !

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Dear Brian,

You noticed too. I did not comment on the fact that the inlay depicts an apparent Westerner. I commented instead that the inlay was amateurish and poorly executed. This is one of the reasons I give for thinking the gun is rather late production.

... Ron Watson

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Dear Mike,

Well no damages here. I therefore stick to my observation that the gun can be restored, but for the inlay. It would look quite presentable restored.

I would give the stock a light washing with mild soap and a damp cloth to get off the crud. I would then oil the barrel with some 3 in 1 machine oil to brighten it up a bit and wipe off the rust. I would then give the stock a good wipe down INSIDE and OUT with Lemon Oil ( good quality furniture oil ) to bring out the wood grain and give it some luster and body. Repeat every week or so, and you will begin to see a difference. The ramrod can easily be replaced by visiting a lumber yard and picking up a suitable piece of oak dowling.

... Ron Watson

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I hesitate to add to the expert discussion that has already been presented here, but this gun brings to mind some matchlocks I remember seeing in Tohoku. Up there, country folks had and used old matchlock guns for hunting. These were used by both farmers and 'matagi' who were full time commercial hunters. You can see guns in amongst "mingei" or 'folk art' that look like old tanegashima that have been much used and rustically maintained.

Here on the Plains, gun slicks are used to seeing old army rifles that fit that descriptions. They refer to them as "cowboy'd." Whatever you call it, I think that gun shows some "non-samurai alternation."

I LOVE the barrel inlay and I think the gun would clean up nicely.

Peter

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Dear Peter,

Here's an example of a barrel inlay from a Sakai Tanegashima dated 1825 that I own. It depicts Kwanyu , a celebrated Chinese General of the 2nd century deified by the Japanese in 1594 as the God of War. He is usually depicted carrying his large spear. The inlay work is finely done in brass, silver, and copper. Now compare the inlay of mike's example. Usually if we find inlay on the barrel of a Tanegashima it is of very high quality.

... Ron Watson

post-1782-14196882049002_thumb.jpg

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Ron, is it not so that had the gun you posted been battered and neglected for countless years, the inlay work might have looked the same.

 

Not saying that yours is not better quality, but I have seen antiques of the same maker (Thomas Chippendale) one in pristine condition and one in an absolute detrimental condition which to the naked eye could not have been by him, but actually was.

 

KM

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Mike, if you do get the pan and lid restored, look at Ron's example above this post for what to aim for. Notice the ama-ooi between the pan and the barrel, and the hollow hinge pin. Your gun still has many good things going for it and on top of some thorough TLC as Ron suggests, could be restored by someone with the right understanding and equipment, depending on where you are based, of course. Either way, it will look great on the wall.

 

Ron, I am tempted to re-post my Kozuka Kwan-yu as he looks similar. Well, they all do... hahaha.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16473&hilit=nagatsune

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Wow, this discussion has gotten ahead of me. The quality and condition of the Kwany on Ron's gun is superior. the inlay on Mike's gun has serious "condition issues". But I still say that it is an interesting and unusual image. We rarely see human images on guns and this one has an interesting stnace andlook. Clearly the face has been serious marred, recut? moved?. I still think it is worthy.

Peter

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I really appreciate everyone's assistance. I not only pulled the barrel again, but completely removed the lock assembly this evening. I did it for two reasons. First, I wanted to get to just the bare stock so it could be cleaned up but also because the lock did not function well. After cleaning the dust and light corrosion off of one of the inside parts, it seems to function better although still not 100%.

 

Tomorrow I need to focus on the barrel oiling. I assume the patina to the brass parts should be left alone and not polished? Opinions?

 

I was also thinking of heading to the hobby shop tomorrow to get some sheet brass in an attempt to reproduce the missing pieces on the stock. Provided I can find the appropriate thickness, I'm pretty sure I could easily do it.

 

Mike

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