Antique Japanese Tanegashima Matchlock Rifle. Converted to Percussion, approx. .52 cal., 36.25'' octagon barrel with flared muzzle, 42.75'' hardwood stock is decorated with brass mounts and floral motifs. Iron sideplate and percussion hammer have a chiseled geometric pattern. Barrel with an integral blade front and notched rear sight. Barrel maker's marks are located on the underside of the barrel and are visible if removed from the stock. Metal rates good, barrel has been cleaned, now gray with spots of darkened pitting scattered throughout. Trigger guard and hammer display an even dark patina; brass shows moderate toning. Wood is very good, with a few small losses along the upper edge of the forend, adjacent the barrel. Hammer will not stay cocked. Bore with expected dark rust and erosion.
from Wiki - The tanegashima seems to have been based on snap matchlocks that were produced in the armory of Goa in Portuguese India, which was captured by the Portuguese in 1510.[10] The name tanegashima came from the Japanese island (Tanegashima) where a Chinese junk with two Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm in 1543. The lord of the Japanese island, Tanegashima Tokitaka (1528–1579), purchased two matchlock muskets from the Portuguese and put a swordsmith to work copying the matchlock barrel and firing mechanism. The smith, Yaita Kinbee Kiyosoda,[11] did not have much of a problem with most of the gun but "drilling the barrel helically so that the screw (bisen bolt) could be tightly inserted" was a major problem as this "technique did not apparently exist in Japan until this time." The Portuguese fixed their ship and left the island, and only in the next year, when a Portuguese blacksmith was brought back to Japan, was the problem solved.[12]
