Just acquired Matchlock

[Michaelr]

Hello All. I have wanted a nice ( to me at least ) Japanese Matchlock for some time now. I spoke to a few people and read the one and only book that I could find on the subject. My thought was that I only wanted one ( I said that about Japanese Swords and that didn’t work out as I have many ) and I knew what I liked to look at. So this weekend at the Orlando Japanese Sword Show there were 3 Matchlocks to choose from, two very ruff ones and the one pictured below that I am the new caretaker of. With knowing very little about them please feel free to teach me about what I have, good or bad. If there is any further information that you need please ask. I am away from my notes right now so the only measurement that I can remember is the bore size that is about 1/2”. Thank you for your time and I hope that you enjoy.  

MikeR

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Congratulations. A very nice example of a Chōshū long gun.

Possibly made in Chōshū but more likely in Ōsaka. You’d have to remove the barrel to check for a signature. 

[Michaelr]

Thank you Piers. The person that I purchased it from said that he thought it was signed but I haven’t built up the courage yet to remove it. When and if I do I will post more pictures. Thank you again

 

MikeR