Arrr! Japanese Tower pistols

Dad gave me the "tower" flintlock pirate pistols I used to mess with when I was a kid. He had them since the '60s, and I think I saw them in an old catalog he had from then--something about a soft frizzen, I think?
Anyone know what I'm blathering on about? Are these just gonna be for halloween, or can I really shoot them?

Don't shoot it...A guy gave me one and I did't
like what I saw...

Depends on a lot of thigs. I have an old Hi-Pro (Japan) kit that I shot a fair amount as a boy. I used to use a tsp. of FFg and a teaspoon and a half of steel BBs. I did it mostly for the smoke and noise, but it did do a number on a gallon milk jug filled with water at about seven yards.

I never had much problem with this one sparking. Perhaps it slipped by their quality control with a serviceable lock.

By the way, I've been wondering whether to salvage the hardware from this and redo it "right," or just leave it as it is. It's together, but the castings are unpolished, I'd have to plug a few holes as I refit the barrel into the stock better, etc. When I was an eleven year old, the primary goal was to have something I could shoot. :hmm:

Zahman said:

Dad gave me the "tower" flintlock pirate pistols I used to mess with when I was a kid. He had them since the '60s, and I think I saw them in an old catalog he had from then--something about a soft frizzen, I think?
Anyone know what I'm blathering on about? Are these just gonna be for halloween, or can I really shoot them?

Click to expand...

I have a Japanese made Tower pistol and the frizzen was very soft. I had it hardened and the pistol shoots great now! It a .67 caliber (16 gauge) smoothbore that I either shoot a .650 round ball in or I load it with an ounce of shot. It works great on chipmunks. :rotf:

My first flintlock. The wife got it for me on a whim. I set up a plastic toy truck (about 8 inches long) in the back yard at about 30 yards, showed her what I'd read about shooting a flintlock, and she clobbered it on the first shot. Used marbles.

Recently I read somewhere that at least some had very poorly secured breech plugs. :shocked2: Mine had a soft frizzen and has a crummy tumbler - you can't put it at half cock with a flint in it. :shake: If I ever play with it again it'll sure get a going over first.

The Japanese Tower pistol was my first M/L gun. Bought it in 1970 from Dixie Gun Works. It was $30.00 as is, and $35.oo with the frizzen hardened. I bought it with frizzen hardened. I still have it and still shoot it now and then. Very impressive at close range with a load of #1 buck, and 50gr of fffg.

I bought one at a gun show a few years back. It is a 67 smoothbore (of course). The half cock had an easier trigger pull than the full cock did so I got it pretty cheap. I had to recarve the notches so that it was safe to shoot. I also redid the finish.

It turned out to be a good enough shooter. I got a custom .67 mold to go with it. It really makes a mess of a stump at 15 yards with one ball, 4 buck and 35 grains of 2FF.

My only complaint is that it really eats flints. 10 shots and it is time for a new flint. However, considering that I don't shoot it that often, it really isn't a major problem

Many Klatch

I bought one the same year and from the same place! Mine was also the the version with the hardened frizzen, but it still did not spark very well. I used to shoot it all the time. It was my first flintlock. I sold it several years ago. Wish I had kept it.

As mentioned before I remember the towers were known for their soft frizzens and some with pressed in breach plugs or very poor threads in the plugs.
Please check these guns over very well before even thinking of putting anything down the barrels. I know some were shot and are still being shot but some also are know to have come apart with disasterious results.
Fox :thumbsup:

Did the barrels on these guns have a seam? I have one that I haven't ever shot just because there is a seam in the barrel, the lock sparks fine though.

Wulf,
Still got it? :grin: If so, email me.

I've used these to hone my skills, pulled them apart and inspected/refinished/polished/etc - I have some pics of someone else's rehabiliation of a Tower pistol that I saved for inspiration. If someone wants to host a few, shoot me a PM.

Story...I have it no longer..It was a give away
with a promise not to shoot it. I could see nothing worth saving..but that thing sure raised
my standards of quality...If anyone else liked 'em
thats their choice..I focussed on making my own
everything....

i solved the flint problem with mine using sawn flints.. only thing ive found them to work well in.. it shoots pretty accuratly at 25 yards if a pie plate is accurate, but very high.. i blame the stock design on that.. no real quality problems with mine that has shown up... dave.

wulf, it may have been a wise move to get rid of it. some tower copys had pressed in breech plugs with a small tack weld. i sure wouldn't want it in front of my head when the hammer dropped. i had one with a dead soft frizzen and a pressed plug. dumped it at a gun show with a strong admonishment that it was a wall-hanger only.

Your right..always play it safe.The loss isn't
worth the gain

Just took mine apart for the first time.

I hadn't had the barrel out before because the pin holding it in was in a blind hole. Over the years it had worked itself out about .02 and I was able to get hold of it and pull it.

Sure enough, the breech plug has a tack weld under the tang. It's also only about 3/8 thick/long. I didn't try to get it out, so maybe there are threads on it, but after the above reports, I doubt it. This one is a wall hanger for sure (unless I get around to fixing it or cannibalizing it). I'm putting a tag on it so at least I don't forget. It's those future owners that are in danger. This is just the kind of thing somebody would load up to the max and blaze away with. It needs to get fixed or cut up.

Kinda scary lookin' stuff there. Sure i wouldn't want that in front of my face when it went off and let go.

a do-it-yourself lobotomy kit! :hmm:

WR,
So why not use it as an excuse to cut, drill, thread and fit a real tang? If you took photos along the way, that'd make a great Sticky for all the folks that'll come here with the same Jap Tower pistol problem. :hatsoff:

Sure - I'll put it on the job list :rotf:

Sorry. My enthusiasm for cooking up and taking on new projects far exceeds the round toit-ness.

But when (if) I get around to it, you'll see it here

(It's not just the barrel; the tumbler needs to be replaced or welded up and recut, the lockplate engraving looks like a chicken went at it, etc.)