Here is what I know for sure. It was purchased in Japan by a G.I. who was stationed there after WWII. He brought it back to the states where it hung on his wall for many years.
It was smoke and water damaged in a house fire. For nearly forty years it sat until I recently decided to learn more about it. There was a descriptive slip of paper held to the side of the stock apparently with celophane type tape. After cleaning the soot from it, I found that it reads:
#760 Ancient Japanese matchlock rampart gun. Only specimen of this huge size we have handled. Almost 6 foot in length. Weight 22 lbs. 52 inch heavy octagon barrel. .80 caliber. Deep age brown with rusting, light pitting, some pock marks medium but VG+. Very long, heavy all brass lock and massive serpentine hammer. Needs internal repair (hammer loose and sloppy) but these inside parts quite simple. Full rosewood-like stock of large proportions, well made, very sound, will clean VG-ex or better. Few small chips, slivers at extreme butt. Some brass inlays on left side. Needs barrel pins only and r.r. Unique piece......... 135.00
I had intended to leave the paper label on the gun but upon discovering that it is not describing this gun, I removed it. At this point, my main goal is to identify this weapon, including figuring out whether or not it is actually from the matchlock era or is a reproduction.
Click any image on this page for a larget version with better detail.
From examination, here is what I know:
The (bamboo) barrel pins are in fact missing. The lock mechanism is in fact loose and sloppy. This much matches the paper label.
Blowing into the barrel does not cause any air to exit the flash hole. The hole seems solidly blocked. Either there never was a hole (because this is a replica piece) or the hole has been sealed to render the gun inoperable, as a "gun contrrol" measure.
The flash pan cover is missing.
The brass pin in the center of the lock mechanism has been replaced with a nail. This makes me believe this was a functioning weapon at one time and someone did what he could to keep it working.
There is much inlay work, not just on the left side as the paper label says.
The forward barrel band has what seems to be a single Japanese character:
There is an engraved brass plate on the underside of the stock at the front:
There ia another engraved plate on the underside of the butt.
There is a large, circular plate on the bottom that may identify the maker. It is lighter in color than the brass inlay and is non-ferrous. It may be silver.
This same design appears on the mainspring, shown here and visible on the image of the action shown above. It too is lighter in color than the brass and is non-ferrous, possibly silver.
The most elaborate inlay is this on the underside:
When rotated, it is easier to see the tiger descending a bamboo tree.
The underside of the barrel has marks that may be an inscription. They may also simply be tooling marks or dents from rough handling in the manufacturing process.
If you can offer any insights or information, please contact Matchlock@MDCCLXXVI.com. Thanks.
I have uploaded additional photos. Many are of the barrel inscription, some twiddled in a photo editor to enhance contrast to make the inscription more legible.
Here are images of the barrel inscription after removing rust and finish from the barrel bottom. The inscription is much clearer on these images.