Guns International #: 101866908
Seller's Inventory #: 217737

Category - Rifles - Japanese - Antique Rifles - 1500-1850

Category
Rifles - Japanese
Antique Rifles - 1500-1850

SCARCE Antique JAPANESE MATCHLOCK “Tanegashima” ARQUEBUS .44 Caliber MUSKET Fascinating Ancient Weaponry with Decorated Stock

Description:
SCARCE Antique JAPANESE MATCHLOCK “Tanegashima” ARQUEBUS .44 Caliber MUSKET

Fascinating Ancient Weaponry with Decorated Stock

Here we present a Japanese Tanegashima Matchlock Musket. This was a more refined matchlock musket that utilized a lock and trigger mechanism instead of the more primitive hand-held match. Use of this type of firearm in Japan dates to the mid-16th Century, when the Portuguese brought this 15th Century European concept to the shores of the Japanese Island of Tanegashima, for which the musket is named. With just a few examples Japanese swordsmiths were able to duplicate and produce their own on a large scale, forever changing how wars would be fought in Japan by the end of the 16th Century. They proved decisive in settling the internal wars, so that Japan lived in relative peace and isolation for the next 250 years. The Tanegashima continued to be produced and used until about the end of the Edo Period, when Commodore Perry established contact in the mid-19th Century. Conflict again rose to the surface but was decided by modern weapons of the period.

This is a very interesting weapon when comparing to those most of us are familiar with today. These were not shoulder-fired weapons, so they do not have a provision to brace the stock against one’s body. A braided cord, known as the “slow match”, would have a burning ember at the end. The slow match is held by the spring-loaded arm known as the “serpentine”. The serpentine is put into the cocked position when ready to fire, and the hinged cover moved from over the flash pan. A simple pull of the trigger plunged the serpentine and the slow match into the flash pan, detonating the charge within the gun.

The overall condition is good. Original matchlock action functions well. Aged smooth bore. The stock is in decent shape for age and use. It does have a sliver absent from the left side of the forestock and slivers that are still attached on the right side at the muzzle and just forward of the lock. Engraved brass hardware that features a large cat, maple-like leaves, and a chrysanthemum. These are downright rare in the US and this one is a great value with the aesthetic beauty and history that it represents!

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 40-1/2 inches.

Caliber: .44 (~11mm) Matchlock

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$1895

#217737
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes