Opening a Tanegashima

[Bugyotsuji]

The following steps will make life easier for anyone contemplating separating the barrel and stock of their Tanegashima matchlock, in order to read the Mei. Illustrations below, Pics 1~5.

 

PART ONE...... OPENING

 

1. Remove the Karuka (ramrod). This allows the stock to relax its grip on the barrel.

 

2. Don't touch any pins connected with the mechanism, the pan lid or any to the rear of the mechanism. Remove the two (sometimes one, or three or four) horizontal Mekugi pins from the Mekugi-ana in the wooden stock, forward of the mechanism, pushing from left to right with the gun muzzle pointing away from you. (Pic 1) You can use your Nihonto Mekugi-nuki pointer to get them started from the left side. They should be made of bamboo, (preferably smoked) but some Mekugi pins may be brass. You may encounter difficulty if the pins have been inserted incorrectly after their arrival in the West. Adjust accordingly.

Note 1: Note they will be of slightly differing sizes. Lay them out in order to help you remember correct replacement.

Note 2: When replacing you will know the barrel is sitting in the correct position if the pins slip back miraculously into their original positions.

Note 3: Some guns have an extra brass band holding the stock and barrel muzzle together. Slip this off, noting whether it has an inherent 'correct' direction to it.

 

3. You are now nearly ready to separate the barrel from the stock. WAIT. Place the butt of the gun onto a soft object like a slipper and hold the gun upright.

 

4. Pull back the serpentine into locked open position. It's delicate, and may fall, but be patient and try again.

 

5. Hold the gun stock near the muzzle, between the straightened fingers and thumb of your left hand, barrel towards your left palm, (Pics 2 & 3) and push the top of the barrel out with the heel of your right hand against the muzzle itself, until the barrel releases from where it is normally seated, with increasing strength if necessary. Some stocks have shrunk over the years, so you may need to bang the barrel out with hits from the palm/heel of your hand.

Note: A rubber mallet may be necessary, but in that case you may want to save yourself trouble next time by candle-waxing the inside of the stock to decrease stickiness. (Or whatever your preferred method of gentle lubrication might be.)

 

6. The barrel should still be seated at the breech end, split out at an angle of about 10~20 degrees? Lift the whole barrel out gently so as not to damage the lock or stock sides.

 

7. On the underside of the barrel, (Pic 5) you may find the Mei, which is often the location and the gunsmith's name, (as in Nihonto), an indication as to the method of manufacture, and in very rare cases may give a date. You may also find some numbers indicating manufacturing process or related parts for castle guns or guns made in pairs or in quantity.

Note: There is a high possibility that it will be badly rusted and almost illegible. Be careful not to attack the rust with any approach that you may regret later. How to deal with that is a separate subject.

 

8. Look for any lettering (possibly in brush and ink) inside the stock itself which may tell you something about the carpenter.

 

9. If you are lucky, the large, usually square-headed, Bi-sen ('bee sen') plug-screw will twizzle out of the barrel breech (Pic 4) and make cleaning it 100 times easier. Don't damage the Bisen with a heavy wrench. It will always carry the scars, not good; in the worst scenario the screw will split and shear in half, drastically devaluing your antique Tanegashima. There are methods of removing stuck Bisen screws, but that too is another specialized subject. (Initially you can insert penetrating oil from both ends and tap in all directions with a rubber mallet, and repeat over several days or weeks as necessary.)

 

For a general idea of what they look like opened up, see the three photos in the middle of this page:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2554&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=90

 

Identify the Bisen screw, the Mekugi pins, the open serpentine, the removed Karuka, the rubber mallet, and the separated barrel and stock.

[Bugyotsuji]

PART TWO .......... REPLACING

 

1. Having cleaned the inside of the barrel and having lightly oiled everything, replace the Bisen. Note: Close too tightly, and a square-headed one may not fit into the receiving square cave hole in the mechanism area of the stock. Make sure the serpentine is cocked open. Line the screw head with the stock hole, even if you have to back off 1/8 of a turn. Holding the gun upright as before, lower the breech end of the barrel into place and swing the barrel shut. At this point, as with a Nihonto, a light tap will help it fall into the exact place. You may want to drop the whole gun an inch butt-first onto the slipper, but be very careful not to damage the end of the butt. A carpeted floor will be better than stone, for example.

Note: You may find a few squeezes will help the barrel sit down deeply and firmly into the whole length of the stock.

 

2. The Mekugi pins should fit back into their respective holes. Remember, replacing, so start Right, through to Left. They should be fairly tight as they lock down through the loops on the underside of the barrel. Tap them home and see if they feel comfortable on both sides when you hold and aim the gun.

Note: The pins may vary in size, depending on their position and the relative thickness of the stock. Don't mix them up!

 

3. Lower the serpentine gently, as always. Never allow the serpentine to fall directly onto the pan lid without a matchcord. Bad for both the lid and the serpentine. Insert a finger to catch and cushion it if you don't have a length of cord handy.

 

4. Replace the Karuka, (narrow end first), twist to find the tight spot, and Brian's your uncle.

 

For reference, here at the top of the linked page is an example of a Mei running along the underside of the barrel of Justin's very fine Kunitomo long gun:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2414&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

[Brian]

Thanks for that Piers. (Do I get called "uncle Brian" from now on? )

When you do get a chance to add the pics, I'll add it as an article to the upcoming FAQ section too. Yes..still working on it, but with Japan coming up and work so hectic I doubt I will finish it until after I get back.

For those familiar with old flintlocks and percussion pieces, there are a lot of similarities.

All you have to remember is to NOT follow the old gunsmithing saying of: "when in doubt...use a hammer. The bigger the doubt...the bigger the hammer"

(NOTE:- I said don't follow that advice)

I assume patina in non-exposed places is treated the same way as a nakago, with the "less is more" approach to cleaning.

 

Brian

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Piers,

 

Cool. All I need now is a Teppo to disassemble.

[Bugyotsuji]

LOL at Carlo. Wishing you luck in finding a nice one.

 

Brian, you have triggered some thoughts here with your comment on patina. Nihonto can easily change their Koshirae, so any judgement has to fall onto the metal itself, and how it has aged and what any engravings may tell us. With Nihonto, therefore, removal of the patina is an absolute no-no.

 

A Japanese matchlock, however, will almost never change the original fittings, so these can tell us more about the gun and its history than sword fittings would. Guns were not opened and cleaned so much, and in many cases they have rusted more easily, not being in sealed shirasaya. To some extent, therefore, removal of rust, and certainly red rust, is necessary in order to read and stabilize the Mei and the metal surface of the barrel. If you are exposing bare metal, however, you naturally need to ease off...

 

As to hammering it with a hefty hammer, you are quite right. I didn't want to encourage anyone to be too OTT in their efforts to open a Bisen. By the same token, I know someone who is able to open them, and I am sure that besides the gentler methods I outlined above, he slams them hard with a giant hammer, in between heating them to red-hot. He knows what he is doing, though, so I cannot comment. I have seen one Bisen that he snapped in half, (on my previous tan-zutsu; he created a new one) and I have seen the weals he leaves on stubborn Bisen screw heads and the marks of the vise/vice on the barrel, and it hurts my heart.

[Bugyotsuji]

Push or tap the Mekugi pins from the left (thin end) in order to knock them out to the right. I find a rubber hammer handy for those extra taps.

[Bugyotsuji]

Open the serpentine. Grip the stock with the fingers of one hand, and knock the barrel free with the palm of the other hand.

[Bugyotsuji]

The big 'Bisen' screw can be encouraged to emerge. This will make cleaning the barrel much easier.

 

Look underneath. You may find a Mei and possibly other information including construction of barrel and/or date. There will also be little 'bridges' for receiving the Mekugi pins and locking the barrel down into the stock.

[Brian]

Didn't post this before, but thanks a lot for posting this Piers, it is very helpful. I will add it to the future FAQ page for the benefit of those who own them.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Didn't post this before, but thanks a lot for posting this Piers, it is very helpful. I will add it to the future FAQ page for the benefit of those who own them.

 

Regards,

Brian

 

Enjoyed doing it, Brian!

 

I have been re-reading it and making little adjustments here and there every day or two... whenever I see something that is not worded very well. (Plenty of those!)