Chuck75 Posted November 27, 2019 Report Posted November 27, 2019 Hi all, My father (a dedicated firearm collector) wishes for christmas Shigeo Sugawa"s book: "The Japanese Matchlock - a story of the Tanegashima". I have browsing around for quite a while now and could not find an available English version of it. Would anyone know, how I could find one please? Or maybe the contact details of M. Sugawa? Thank you very much in advance for your help! Best Regards, Chuck Quote
Kiipu Posted November 27, 2019 Report Posted November 27, 2019 Sugawa's website. JapaneseWeapons English http://www.xn--u9j370humdba539qcybpym.jp/net/index.htm Japanese http://xn--u9j370humdba539qcybpym.jp/ Quote
Chuck75 Posted November 28, 2019 Author Report Posted November 28, 2019 Thank you very much!! I sent an email. Crossing fingers for an answer:) Quote
Kiipu Posted November 29, 2019 Report Posted November 29, 2019 There is another more recent book that may be of interest as well. Pettersson, Jan. The Yonezawa Matchlock: Mighty Gun of the Uesugi Samurai. 2017. A New Book-Release! http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23913-a-new-book-release/page-1 2 Quote
djealas Posted December 30, 2019 Report Posted December 30, 2019 While you're waiting to acquire Sugawa San's book, I've attached a copy of the 1950 issue of the Gun Collector for your entertainment. There is a chapter on tanegashima in there that is interesting to read. Enjoy. Regards, Marc The Gun Collector, September 1950.pdf 3 Quote
Peter Bleed Posted December 30, 2019 Report Posted December 30, 2019 Marc, Thank you for sharing the 1950 article. Indeed, I have never seen that paper and it is very wonderful. Thank you thank you! Peter Quote
IanB Posted December 30, 2019 Report Posted December 30, 2019 An fascinating read, but most interesting to me was the illustration of the three barrelled snaphaunce pistol then in Mexico. I had the privilege of handling it, or one very like it, in the hands of a US collector many years ago. It had probably arrived in Mexico with the Keicho mission to Europe undertaken by Hasekura Tsunenaga who was shipped across the Pacific, with other Japanese in a ship built by Will Adams and Mukai Shogen, Ieyasu's Admiral. Hasekra then travelled on a ship of the 'plate-fleet' to Spain whilst the other Japanese, one of whom was a bullion dealer, traded in silver with the Spanish in Mexico before returning to Japan. We know from a letter sent by Date Masamune of Sendai in response to an accusation by Tokugawa Hidetada, that the Tokugawa had supplied the gifts of armour and weapons for the mission to Europe and the snaphaunce I saw had defaced Tokugawa kamon on the barrels near the breeches as well as later Buddhist Deities in zogan higher up the barrels. The mechanism for ignition was clearly inadequate, as two of the 'steels' against which the flint struck had been replaced by bronze copies of the one remaining original. They took the form of L shaped pieces attached to spiral brass springs fastened at the rear of each pan. My memory is a bit woolly on exactly how these were supposed to work. I think they had a small stud at the bottom of the striking face that hooked into a hole in the flash guard at the front of the pan. When hit by the flint, the cover and steel was pushed rearward, unhooking the stud and allowing the spring to lift the steel and pan cover clear of the pan. Clearly it never really worked, and certainly wouldn't with bronze 'steels', but it was obviously considered a suitable gift to present to the Mexican authorities. Ian Bottomley 1 Quote
djealas Posted December 31, 2019 Report Posted December 31, 2019 Your welcomed, Peter. The Gun Collector was a very small circulation newsletter, but contained really expert wisdom from guys who had been there and done that. I once found the whole collection for sale on a European website but balked at the price for the whole set, then it disappeared, sadly. You can find old editions on Ebay, I just did a search and there are quite a few. Happy hunting. Marc Quote
Wolfmanreid Posted January 25, 2020 Report Posted January 25, 2020 Fascinating article from the Gun Collector. I’m particularly intrigued by the Japanese method of threading the breach block. Since the Japanese did not develop taps and dies at that time, the author speculates that the female threads must have been hand filed in some agonizingly laborious and precise fashion. How the hell could that be done without a tap? Reid Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted January 27, 2020 Report Posted January 27, 2020 Reid, apparently they wrapped a thread around a bolt, and filed out the valleys. The first time anyway. This was fitted into a red-hot barrel which was hammered around until it had corresponding valleys and mountains. A tap would have been made/developed pretty quickly, I guess, under the tutelage of early visiting gunsmiths. Quote
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