BaZZa's 'bye and bye' new Teppou posted at last

[Bazza]

1.  THE GUN ITSELF

Minna san, I have been very slack in bringing to you my newly acquired TEPPOU, nearly a year after I acquired it.  Firstly, I wanted to take good photos; secondly, there is always another straw on my back begging attention; lastly, I’m notoriously slow and slack at the best of times.  Just ask those who know me and they will tell you my middle name isn’t ‘Gunnadoo’ for nothing!!

This TEPPOU has some interesting features, not the least of which is the exquisite fine and precise filing of the barrel.  I have always wondered what the ‘snake eye’ holes were for in the front of the hibasami (‘hammer’).  The closeup photo of this area shows the wedge for holding the match cord is still with the gun and in place through the ‘snake eyes’.  I have never seen a matchlock (sample about 10) with this wedge still present.

Another feature that surprised me was the dark, almost red, lacquered stock.  Was it ‘raw’ lacquer I wondered?  At first glance from a distance (like, when I first clapped eyes on it in the distant gloom of a room) the stock looked almost black.  What also surprised me was the battered look of the stock, almost as if the gun had been thrown onto a pile of weapons after the battle was won.  That the gun has had a lot of use is clearly shown by the erosion of the touch hole in the flash pan.  The pan cover is present, but broken, again as if the gun was just thrown down.  Unusual to find the flash shield is iron, rather than brass, with a ‘T’-piece extension that ‘locks in’ the priming pan cover (top removed for clarity).  The flash shield locking pin, however, is brass and of the Kunitomo form.

I also thought it a distinguishing feature that the match extinguishing hole – if that’s what it is – was under the stock just behind the barrel retaining band.

The stock itself internally seems to be of less than adequate quality and workmanship compared to the other five guns I have.  See for example the view of the match extinguishing hole (7 'Snuffing out' hole 1) where the carving for the lock plate recess is quite crude and careless.  This can also be seen in the last photo (10 retaining pin slot) showing where a barrel retaining pin slot has been crudely cut.

Barrel length is 66.6cm and the bore is 19.9/20.0mm = 12.0 momme.

 

1 BaZZa's 2021 teppou win

2 RHS lock & stock

3 Flash pan & hammer

4 Priming pan quite worn

5 Muzzle front quarter view

6 buttcap

7 'Snuffing out' hole 1

8 'Snuffing out' hole 2

9 battered stock lacquer detail

10 retaining pin slot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bazza]

2.  THE INSCRIPTIONS

The gun has numerous inscriptions and stamps and I will certainly need help with some of them.

11 GÔSHÛ KUNITOMO JÛ YOSHIDA □ □ □ SAKU

12 Gunsmith SHIGE □ (KAO)

13 MEIJI Serial number & rear sight

14 Serial number closeup

15 Breech kanji inlay AMA □

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bazza]

3.  THE LOCK

16 Lock inside

17 Lock outside

18 Lock maker’s mark

 

 

 

 

[Brian]

Wow, beautiful gun. Lovely writeup. That wedge is a prize. Can we get close-ups of that removed?

[Bugyotsuji]

Congratulations on an interesting gun and a great description.  Worth waiting for.

 

There is quite a lot I’d like to say, but as I write, others will probably get there first. The final clear lacquer coating looks to have peeled off in places.

 

The *Jinshin Bango is readable, as is the **Mei. I have found your smith.
The left hand lettering is not the smith name (which is on the central facet) but the title bestowed Jūtō/Chōtō/Shigetō plus Kaō.

The single character for the locksmith 真 (?) may be a mark of fidelity ‘true’ as opposed to part of a name. (I searched but could not find a Kunitomo locksmith with that character as part of their name.)
 

*Jinshin 壬申961 Bukoshi 武庫司

** Yoshida Jingobei 甚五兵衛 Saku

 

 

 

[Kiipu]

I see your weapon was registered during the early years of Meiji 明治.

壬申 = 1872-02-09 to 1873-01-28.

九百六十一番 = No. 961 or 961st.

武庫 = Muko. Maybe this area 武庫郡.

司 = means official? Maybe Piers can figure this one out.

 

I found another matchlock that was registered in the same area as yours.

壬申二百五十九番武庫司

 

Take care BaZZa and hope this helps with the quest.

[Bugyotsuji]

Thomas, the first great Meiji registration of weapons happened in Jinshin.
I read up about the Bukoshi/Mukoshi (part of the Zoheishi Meiji govt Weapons Department), abolished in Meiji 8, 1875, but it was too bureaucratic for my addled brain. The explanation but not the pronunciation can be found in J Wiki here if anyone is interested in digging further: 

1869年8月15日（明治2年7月8日）官制大改革により軍務官に代わって軍事防衛を司る機関として兵部省が設置される^[2]。翌年の1870年3月3日（明治3年2月2日）兵器の製造・研究に従事する役所として造兵司が置かれた^[3]。1872年4月4日（明治5年2月27日）兵部省が廃止され陸軍省および海軍省が設置されると、各省の管下に造兵司が置かれた^[4][5]。

陸軍省では1875年（明治8年）2月3日に武庫司・造兵司が廃止され^[6]、それぞれ砲兵本廠・砲兵支廠を経て^[7]、1879年（明治12年） 10月に東京砲兵工廠・大阪砲兵工廠となった^[8]。

[Kiipu]

Thanks Piers!  I knew you would have the answer.  A little digging in some old dictionaries yielded the translation as armoury (UK) or armory (US).

 

Buko.  武庫  An Armoury.

Source: Churchill, A. G. A Dictionary of Military Terms and Expressions: English—Japanese and Japanese—English. 1902.

Arthur Gillespie Churchill (1860–1940).

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah that’s great confirmation Thomas, thanks.

BaZZa’s gun has some unusual features. At a fairly rare 12 Monmé it seems to be a special gun. 
 

This to me is backed up by the zōgan expression on the top of the barrel saying ‘Amayo’ 雨夜(?) which suggests something present but hidden like stars on a rainy or cloudy night. There but you don’t see it, a rare thing.

Quote from online dictionary.

雨雲に隠れた星。あっても見えないもの、めったにないもののたとえ。

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=雨夜+とは&client=safari&hl=ja-jp&sxsrf=ALiCzsb0-148jAoFAVlv_Z3e23QnPmGQfA%3A1668043196414&ei=vFFsY63rGMLAoASEgK5Y&oq=雨夜+とは&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBAgAEB4yBQgAEKIEMgUIABCiBDIFCAAQogQ6CggAEEcQ1gQQsAM6BQghEKABOggIABCxAxCDAToJCAAQBBCABBAlOgcIABAEEIAEOgYIABAEEB5KBAhBGABQkRlY-FpgwWBoA3AAeAGAAckBiAHuD5IBBjEuMTQuMZgBAKABAcgBCsABAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

[Bugyotsuji]

Still lots of things to be discussed, Barry, if you have the time… … … …

One for starters is the hole under the stock. Normally on most guns you can observe the inserted end of the karuka there; it also enables you to clean out any accumulated fluff or gunk. Does your karuka reach into the hollow?

[Bugyotsuji]

No hurries.
“I have plenty of time!”… as a famous person once said.

Before he dropped stone dead.

 

Has this lovely gun gifted you with any more realizations in the meantime? 

[Bugyotsuji]

Re 'wedge'. 

See Brian above.

 

One serious problem I have encountered in my years of firing these guns is the different types and thicknesses of matchcord available. Naoe Kanetsugu actually warned his troops to make sure to have only the right thickness of cord before battle. The wrong size meant death. See Jan's Pettersson's The Yonezawa Matchlock.

 

It just struck me that the little 'wedge' could be to enable use of a thinner cord when the proper size was not available. This would hold it firmly within the Kaiguchi pinch flaps and allow it to be fed out as necessary... Original thought!