Wood used on Japanese Bess??

Does anyone know what kind of wood the Japanese Besses that Dixie imported back in the '70's used? I believe Miroku made them around the Bicentennial. I'm taking mine down along the barel channel, feathering it into the barrel, as it left a good bit of wood on the sides of the barrel.



Bob Albrecht was kind enough to help me add sling swivels and work a bit on the mainspring to get the pull down to a reasonable level (for a military musket), but now I'm starting to sand it down and just wondering what I'll run into as far as staining goes.

By the way, aside from the lack of swivels, needing some sanding, and an oddly shaped trigger guard, the musket is pretty darn good as far as getting the details right. I had a bunch of people tell me that the lock markings were wrong, but according to the new book by Eric Goldstein and Stuart Mowbray, the lock markings are dead on for a model 1769 Short Land Pattern, with the omission of a small crowned broad arrow under the frissen. If the lock had said "Dublin Castle" instead of "Tower," even the flats along the barrel channel would have been correct, as the Irish Pattern 1769's had that curious feature.



I had originally intended to rework this into a shortened Long Land Pattern, but seeing that this is very close to correct for a Short Land, I think I'll just keep it as is, with just a minimum of tweaking.

Hi Colmoultrie,
I don't have experience with Miroku's bess but I built a Miroku model 1863 Springfield kit years ago. The wood was some species of walnut, but so soft and light colored that I eventually replaced it with solid American black walnut. It had to be stained to look even vaguely correct. The barrel, lock, and hardware were top notch but the wood was awful. My replacement stock looks more authentic (is more authentic) and is of far higher quality wood than the Miroku stock.

dave

I've always been told that the species of wood on those guns was officially know as "Japanese Mystery Wood". Everyone I've seen was light and soft, and makes me think of some jungle species. Sorry I can't add more. Bill