Dmitry

Thank you very much indeed, gentlemen! Your help and expertise are quite impressive! I won't be restoring this piece, as I am but a temporary custodian of it. I think it is wiser to leave it the way it is now, so as not to spoil it. I find Japanese weapons fascinating, but it is not my area of collecting. I am also fond of looking at the old netsuke. I collect naval edged weapons from the age of fighting sail, and this [and one other tanegashima] were part of a large eclectic collection I have acquired some time ago. There are what appears to be some characters incised in the stock, unless I am seeing things. Also note the name DOZIER lightly scratched in the lock plate. Probably a bring-back from WWII...

More photos of the kanji.

I have successfully removed the barrel, and lightly cleaned the kanji area with some BreakFree CLP oil. The stock did not contain any writing on the inside, or else I was not successful in finding it. The silver

Thank you for your knowledge and advice, gentlemen! I will take some photos once I remove the barrel. Interestingly, the barrel has a battle scar, as if it were struck by a sword, or a projectile.

Hello, I would be very grateful if you could help me date this piece. I couldn't find any info on the tanegashimas aside from this web-page - http://www.japaneseweapons.com/hinawajyu/english.htm , and was wondering if it could be possible to attribute it more precisely. Overall length 155 cm. Barrel is 110 cm long, and the bore is about 12.5 mm. Based on what I had gotten from the above-mentioned resource, this piece appears to be a Sakai Tsutsu. Your expert help is greatly appreciated!