Japanese Matchlock Musket.

[redhugster]

Hello!

 

I am new to the forum and have joined as I have just purchased a matchlock with the intent of shooting it in time, if it proves to be correct and of course safe.

 

I shoot original black powder muskets and rifles and a lot of my shooting friends have Japanese Matchlocks here in the UK, so I have plenty of sources of advice on that front....however I know nothing of Japanese script, signatures, Mon and Kamon - so I am hoping someone here will be able to help.

 

Photo 1: Firstly this it what it looks like...

 

 

Photo 2: Wisteria Kamon (Fuji) - is this correct?

 

Photo 3: Mid barrel - what on earth is this?

 

Photo 4: In the barrel channel

 

Photo 5: Under the barrel...The script is the same as above but can anyone identify the cartouche

 

Photo 6: Script under the barrel

 

Photo 7: Top of the barrel...has this been defaced?

 

Photo 8: Dragon on the top of the barrel

 

Photo 9: The Mechanism

 

Photo 10: The Muzzle

 

Any thoughts most appreciated and thank you for looking at all the photos.

 

Best Regards Jon

[Ken-Hawaii]

Hi, Jon, & welcome to the forum.

 

As soon as Piers sees your post, I'm sure he will respond.

 

Aloha!

Ken

[Drago]

Photo 1:

A beauty!

 

Photo 2:

sagari-fuji mon - usually used by the Fujiwara clan

 

Photo 3:

This is a flaming pearl. If I remember correctly, this represents wisdom/wealth/luck and the eternal pursuit of it. Asian dragons are often depicted together with it.

 

Photo 7:

Looks like something was removed. But perhaps we're reading too much into some signs of usage...

[watsonmil]

Dear Jon,

Your matchlock ( Tanegashima ) appears to be a Kunitomo Gun. We should get a clue once the signature is translated. The town of Kunitomo is located in the central part of Honshu Island quite near Lake Biwa. There are many styles of Tanegashima ( often mixed ) but to my eyes at least your gun displays more characteristics of the Kunitomo than any other school. You gun of course is missing it's ramrod ( karuka ) and I note it is also missing a brass plate which protects the barrel from the burning of flash powder. This brass plate is called an Amaooi.

 

The first thing you will want to do is to check and see if the gun is still loaded. To do this get a wooden dowel long enough to reach the bottom of the barrel. If it stops say 3/4 of an inch above the touch hole then you will know it is loaded with at least powder and wadding if not powder wadding and ball.

About half the tanegashima I own were still loaded at the time I received them. If it is loaded and you are not familiar with a ball pulling worm to unload the gun then contact me at : watsonr@mts.net and I shall respond.

 

I also note what appears to be a lack of breach plug end ( usually square ), .... could you please post a photo of the breach plug ?

 

Someone else will have to assist you with the mon on the barrel as there are usually several possibilities. Overall a nice restorable tanegashima from what I can see.

 

... Ron Watson

[k morita]

Hi,

Maybe matchlock smith in Sakai?

The matchlock signature says "Made by Daishido Jinzaemon".(Dai-shi-do , Jin-za-e-mon)

[Bugyotsuji]

Not much to add really, as Drago, Ron, Morita San etc., have already answered most questions. On the face of it, a nicely presented gun, I agree. You may want to source a proper hollow hinge pin.

 

Strange marks on the barrel were often made by the vice when trying to open the large Bisen breech screw that Ron mentions above. (The screw sometimes gets split and destroyed in the process if not done correctly.)

 

How is the inside appearance of the pan? Can we get a shot of that?

 

Most importantly, once you know the barrel is clear, how badly pitted is it? If I am teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, please forgive me. Many extant examples were not kept clean inside, for a number of reasons, and blackpowder residue is especially unkind to steel, so you may want to take it easy on the charge in the beginning if you are planning to fire ball from it. As we know, these Tanegashima are pretty toughly made, though.

 

Although it looks more like a Kunitomo gun, as Ron says, (lacking any of the gaudiness of Osaka guns), the smith Daishido Jinzaemon is a true blue Sakai/Settsu smith. Slightly unusual with a signed gun not to have the region 摂津住 inscribed above the signature.

 

Congratulations on your purchase, by the way.

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

That is most unusual, ... a Sakai/Settsu smith ?? I guess I should not be overly surprised given the free license some of these smiths worked under.

I expected to see Kunitomo in the kanji, ... but NO ! The more I see of the Tanegashima ... the more confusing it becomes. After all, ... a Winchester looks nothing compared to a Remington, ..... until the age of the bolt rifle and then it takes the novice some time to spot the differences even though to the trained eye they are obvious. In the case of the Tanegashima often so little follow a standard it is often difficult even for a person with the knowledge and a good eye to put two and two together. I'd be interested to hear your opinion on this by the way.

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, Ron, I know of many smiths who were attracted this way and that by competing Lords for their gunsmithing know-how. Often smiths will write a place name with Ju 住 indicating that was where they were living, whether temporarily or permanently. Lack of this may simply indicate he was not living in Settsu at the time. Interestingly a quick check of the Kunitomo smiths list shows some Kunitomo Jinzaemon names, possibly descendants of this chap. (?) Was he an early migrant smith then?

 

If he was early this might also explain the lack of any strong regional or Ryu-ha characteristics in the gun. As if starting from neutral? I like the shape of it, but many Tanegashima really do have no strong defining characteristics. I also find them puzzling. Things are easier when the hints are clearer. I would have expected the brass retaining band to be much wider for Sakai, for example. You would never guess Sakai from those photos alone.

[redhugster]

Blimy Gents, thank you for your speedy response :lol: !!!

 

I though this would take a few weeks to work through and you've pretty much cracked it within 12 hours....

 

I've read through all the posts and I have a few questions still I'm afraid, but I think these should be easyish to answer given the responses given thus far... but I'll come to that in a moment

 

Firstly Ron, Thank you. The gun is not loaded (to my relief) - I don't like walking around with loaded arms off (or indeed on) range. I shoot black powder Muskets and Rifle for Great Britain so am somewhat familiar with antique rifles, black powder etc etc , but I am heartened to see that this is one of the first things you all were keen to make me aware of - safety first!!!

 

To that end as it were, please see below a photo of the breach...the plug was only finger tight...is this normal? On say an Enfield P56 the plug is non removable and held very firmly in place with gunk / tar or whatever and is usually very hard to remove after 155 years or so without making a complete mash of the metal work...The plug is square.

 

 

Also please see on the photo, the 'pan' area - I am wondering if someone has started to do a bit of a referb on it and given up..in part this is due to the lack of flash guard and the beach plug and the hole all the way through where the pan would be - thoughts?

 

At the muzzle does anyone know why the crown area looks like a different metal?

 

 

The barrel has some rust pitting in it but is not too bad and is eminently shootable…I could have it skimmed by a 'though of an inch, to get it pretty perfect but this of course would make the bore larger…its around .551 at the moment.

 

Just to get it straight in my head, thus far we know:

Made by: "Made by Daishido Jinzaemon".(Dai-shi-do , Jin-za-e-mon)

The maker was probably from: Sakai / Settsu.I am assuming this is Settsu City, Osaka

The Mon is: Sagari-fuji mon - usually used by the Fujiwara clan, The wisteria itself has a very long lifespan and an especially high rate of propagation, traits that the mon's users hoped to receive themselves

The odd looking engraving mid barrel is: A flaming pearl. This represents wisdom/wealth/luck and the eternal pursuit of it.

Dragons: Asian dragons are often depicted together the flaming pearl

 

Thoughts on the below would be helpful...

1. Would the Engraving and the script in the barrel channel (23) be say the gun number, 23rd of that batch made etc etc. I only ask as I have just made contact with a guy in the states who thinks his gun is almost exactly the same.

2. Is the gun of a high, medium or low quality as things go ?

3. Is it worth having a specialist add some silver / gold back into the engraving to pretty it up a bit?

4. Is anything known about the maker Daishido Jinzaemon such as working dates?

5. How old do you think it is? …1870’s or earlier?

6. The stamp (Cartouche) on the barrel above the ‘23’ – any thoughts?

7. Is the stock of Japanese Oak do you think?

 

Finally,

We have a strong tradition in the UK of being quite good at shooting Japanese Matchlocks and are strongly represented at World and European Championships ....one of my good friends is the former MLAGB world champion...he was beaten in Germany in 2012 by just a few points ..it was thrilling to watch on the screens, as he was to the side of the with the guy who won in the end...you could have heard a pin drop on the range between shots (and it was a big range)!

 

Gents, Many many thanks for your help, even if know one responds to this post you have exceeded my hops thus far, Jon

[Bugyotsuji]

Great to hear you are happy, Jon.

 

Some of your questions will be sadly unanswerable. Unlike swords, very little is known about Japanese gunsmiths. Even having a name you are lucky. This Jinzaemon could be old, as far back as the beginning of Edo, but that would take quite a bit of detective work to suss out.

 

Very interesting to hear of your exploits, and I was surprised to learn that there are Tanegashima shooters in the UK. Where are you based?

 

The pan has been drilled out as step one in refurbishing it. They corrode over the centuries until a) The Yaku-ike bowl is too large and deep, and b) the enlarged vent allows too much blowback. The operation is called "Bugu Naoshi" in Japanese. You get a new circular plug inserted below. Then the pan is drilled and plugged sideways, entering through the outer edge of the pan. A new vent hole is drilled into the new plug, and finally the rim is plugged and smoothed over. You can recognize pans that have been renewed by the circle under the pan, and the dotted circle on the outside rim of the pan.

 

The silver rim around the muzzle looks in the pic to be a decoration to balance the one at the other end... but is the metal actually different? If so, it's a first for me and I have seen hundreds of these guns. Sometimes you will find a barrel that has been cut down, and workings or artificial ageing around the cut edge to make it look old.

 

Stock, Japanese Akagashi, red oak, yes. "No 23" highly likely production number of gun, with the same number written inside the stock. Cannot see the stamp well enough to comment, but quite unusual. Whether to have the inlay freshened up is your decision, but often people polish them to death when they reach the West, removing much of what was good. Consult an artisan and see what he would charge. The dragon is chasing a 'Hoju' the precious jewel of life and mystery. As to quality, I would say medium. Many of these decorations were added in early Meiji to please Westerners, but they are slightly frowned upon in Japan purist circles. It is not low quality, but it is not top quality either. Even so, probably a better example than some of the guns that have found their way to the West, a good standard gun IMHO.

 

PS The file marks around the muzzle and the darker staining area may indicate some repair work done to the muzzle...

[watsonmil]

Dear Jon,

Piers has answered most of your questions. Regarding the loose breach plug ( bizen ) .... On the Japanese matchlocks, the breach plugs rarely fitted properly. The Japanese technology of cutting thread was not up to standards and consequently the breach plugs were often not tight enough to make a proper gas seal. The Japanese solution to this was to wrap sheet lead around the male thread and then screw the breach plug into the barrel. The lead took up the looseness and once the gun was fired a few times, the fouling finished the job of providing a seal from the inside !

 

The silver around the muzzle is simply a type of inlay using a technique known as nunome zogan. ( hammering silver onto a filed surface so that the silver sticks to the iron ) ... you can actually see the file marks in your photograph if you look closely. This is not repair work as Piers erroneously stated.

 

Next, ... you mention the inside of the barrel being somewhat pitted. DO NOT ream the barrel out to get rid of these as this is STICTLY against the rules of the Tanegashima competitions ( as is sleeving or adding rifling ). If the gun is not fit to shoot as original ( inside barrel ), ... then you cannot compete with it in regulated competition. A little pitting will generally not disqualify your gun from competition.

 

Next, ... regarding the number 23. This is probably number 23 of a lot order by one daimyo ( clan leader ) for his troops. The inlay work would have been added later as Piers states for the attractiveness of sale to Europeans. It is not the quality of work nor is the overall quality of the gun of the caliber to be a special order for a wealthy Samurai.

 

Your gun is in nice condition and I would place its manufacture at early to mid 19th century. It is not however a masterpiece, ... just a good serviceable firearm.

 

... Ron Watson

 

PS. My opinion is to leave the inlay work as is. I would not recommend having some craftsman touch up ANY of the inlay as I see it, ... as it appears to my eyes to be good and original Japanese craftsmanship.

[redhugster]

Hi Peirs,

 

Thank you for your prompt reply,

 

Sorry you refer to the musket as ‘Jinzaemon’..this is a new term to me…how does this relate to ‘Teppo’ and ‘Tagashima’?

 

The Edo period according to Wikipedia is from 1603 to 1867 – is that correct?…..I can see that there must be little to no information on gunsmiths as this is quite a long time period (unlike here in the UK) – I’m guessing this is mainly due to the isolationist policy of those in power at the time + the enormous amount of arms I gather that were being manufactured...Can anyone guess at a date - or is that just impossible?

 

I shoot with the Muzzle Loading Association of Great Britain (MLAGB) who are governed by the Muzzle Loading International committee (MLIAC). A good majority of countries are represented and at the last World Champs in 2013 there were 25 countries. This is a bi annual event and next year the World Champs are in Granada, Southern Spain - at a lovely shooting facility there…I would imagine more countries will be represented as Ireland were able to send a shooter to the last Europeans and I believe India has just Joined.

 

The following link is the captain’s report from the World Champs in 2013:

http://www.mlagb.com/blackpowder/201204_worldchamps.pdf

 

I currently shoot an:

Percussion, Enfield P56 (manufactured C.1857)

Percussion, Enfield P59 (manufactured C.1864)

&

Flint, Springfield musket M1816 (manufactured C.1816)

+ other odds and sods

 

…sadly there are a lot of modern reproductions entering the market place which are in truth more fantasy than fact – combining the very best bits of antique guns into one, from different countries and time periods so everything has to be scrutinised rigorously prior to international Competition as everything needs to be 'in the spirit of....'.

 

With Matchlock pistols and Muskets members of the UK team usually get the job of checking over the weapons to make sure they have not been tampered with – which is why I am keen to ensure mine is, shall we say, unfettered….

 

This has all been quite a quick and steep a learning curve Piers, so thank you for an education! – The same obviously goes to Ron, K Morita,Tobias and Ken!!!!

 

Any further comments obviously welcome

 

….now all I have to do is learn how to make a match…

 

Regards Jon

[Drago]

Sorry you refer to the musket as ‘Jinzaemon’..this is a new term to me…how does this relate to ‘Teppo’ and ‘Tagashima’?

 

Jinzaemon is the maker, the gunsmith. What he means is similar to this: "Your Picasso (painting) could be older than others." -> "Your Jinzaemon (matchlock) could be older..."

 

Teppo and Tanegashima are the terms for these kinds of weapons.

[watsonmil]

Dear Jon,

Please read my second last reply to your thread, ... your gun is most probably early to mid 19th century. Yes, ... the Edo period ran from 1603 - 1867.

If you want to make a slow match, here is a link : http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/lunte.html

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

It just happens that in Urabe's gunsmith list there is a Daishido Jinzaemon in Settsu Province who signed a gun with the date 安永4年, (1776) which (assuming this is the same smith) tells us that he was making guns before and/or after 1776, (An-Ei ran from 1772-1781) , the year of the US Declaration of Independence, shortly before the French Revolution in Europe. In the middle of the long Edo Period, right about where Ron's educated intuition was pointing him.

[redhugster]

Hi Piers,

 

That is amazing....I can't believe how much you all have been able to tell me, thank you so much.

 

Ron, Thanks for the link...My referring to making a match was a little double edged, firstly I need to know how to make a reliable match which I think I can do, so thank you...however getting hold of the right grade of Nitrate / Saltpeter apparently can sometimes be a little tricky here in the UK as some naughty people choose to make bombs with it...I spoke to a friend last night about it and apparently he had a visit from the local plod (police) a couple of years ago when he tried to order some...Either way it can't be much of an issue.... ...I guess when I have the musket repaired I'll find out!

 

Anyway I gingerly took the lock plate off last night and found the following:

 

 

I am assuming this is Japanese script rather than just scratch marks...

 

Best Regards,

 

Jon