Extra Long Matchlock

[Tengu1957]

This is an extra long matchlock
Bore - 1.3 cm
Barrel length - 122 cm
Total length - 150 cm

I've been told ( perhaps incorrectly ) that this was used to shoot from a castle. It would be hard to load unless you were standing on something. Please let me know what you think it may be. Thanks

 

[Viper6924]

An interesting matchlock. I get a Sakai feeling when I see it with the sakura-decoration and the flared muzzle.

These long guns were indeed used to be fired from castles. The shooters could actually stand on raised platforms during sieges. Kochi Castle on Shikoku still displays these constructions in a very clear way. This enabled them to stand one atop the other and engaging the attackers.

 

Jan

[Bugyotsuji]

Is there a Mei under the barrel, Gary?

 

There were much longer guns, and yes, loading was problematical, but they dealt with it.  There was a theory at the time that the longer the barrel, the more accurate was the shot. With smoothbore and ball, however, more recent tests do not seem to bear that out, I read.

 

Incidentally, the underside of the stock will often tell you something about the intended use. When rounded, especially in the middle section of the stock, your left hand will fit comfortable round it. A long flat base will prove to the contrary, boxy, sharp-sided and uncomfortable. It will however sit satisfactorily on the ledge or sill of a window slit. 

[IanB]

Piers, In Europe long barrels were considered essential in the early days of firearms, not to increase accuracy but to ensure all of the powder charge had ignited before the projectile left the barrel. I am sitting here looking at a flintlock smoothbore of reasonable quality that has a barrel that is about 5 foot long (1.5m). Since it is stamped with Birmingham proof marks,  and that proof house didn't open until 1815 it is a fair bet that it was made as a trade gun of some form and the makers appreciated that the recipients would not have access to quality powder.

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

Ian, yes that makes perfect sense. In this case however, the gun is not particularly old in the relative scale of things, and I think the stock shape is the main clue here. Awa tended to produce long and longer guns of relatively small bore, but this example although small bore does not show those Awa characteristics.

 

I will take your advice on board, and scale down on the long barrel/accuracy theory and its eventual debunking, which I probably got from Sawada Taira's book. 

[Tengu1957]

Please see images ( flat )

 

[uwe]

Very interesting!

(I’m lurking and learning...????)

[Bugyotsuji]

And the name of the dark horse is... Uwe!

[Mister Gunto]

In Europe, extra long and large rifles in the 18th and 19th Centuries were commonly referred to as "Wall Guns". The idea was they would only be used in a fixed defensive fortification, where their unwiedely size (and obviously very long-reload time) could be covered by stout defensive walls and birms. Its not at all odd to think the Japanese used their own versions of these. The Chinese definately made them. 

 

Here's a pic of a mid-19th century breechloading version. You won't realize the size of this gun until you see the photo near the bottom of the page where it's compared to a US M1 Garand rifle (itself no shorty). 

 

https://www.rockislandauction.com/blog/the-belgian-behemoth/

[Bugyotsuji]

One for the pot.