Restoring A Tanegashima

[Worn]

I have a Tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) that was smoke and water damaged in a fire. It is well-used and missing some parts. I've replaced the missing (bamboo) barrel pins and two brass pins that hold the lock mechanism into the stock.

It is missing the ramrod; I'm making one of modern design so I can remove the ball and powder load that seems to be present.

It is missing the pan cover and barrel protector as well as the cheek stock brass end plate.

It has a fair amount of inlay and is missing one inlaid piece around one side of one barrel pin hole.

I'll be trying to make all the missing parts myself. In addition, having used Simple Green degreaser to get most of the soot off, I need to restore the stock finish as it was doubtless damaged by the soot/removal.

Don't bother hollering at me that I have diminished its collector value. It lost much if not most of that in the fire. :td: The soot was so bad that I could not even tell there was brass inlay on the bottom. It had to be cleaned.

My main questions concern the stock. I don't want to "refinish" so much as "restore" the finish. I know how the barrels of Tanegashima were protected (black lacquer) but I have no idea what was used on the stock. Once I finish cleaning it, what product should be used to treat it?

Do I dare remove all the inlay when working on the stock, or work around the inlay?

If you've "been there, done that", I'd like to hear from you. Any and all helpful advice will be appreciated.

 

[Artificer]

Worn,

I am no great expert on Tanageshima's, as I have only handled less than a dozen Originals and only worked on four of them. All of those four were at the two World Championships I attended. What I mainly did there was adjust Serpentine's, bent a couple of the bronze springs a bit and did a VERY little on the interior parts. That gets a bit scary to do, especially at a World Championship.

I am not positive on what oil they used on the stocks of those guns. It may have been "China Oil" or Tung Oil, or it may have been something else. If you can't find out exactly what they used, I think I would try pure Tung Oil.

Personally, I would advise against sanding the stock at all. You did well to use nothing harsher Simple Green to clean it. If that took all or most of the soot off, then well done. If it still needs some soot taken off, then I might try an Acetone moistened wad of paper towels at most. This because Acetone leaves NOTHING behind that can be harmful to the wood and is chemically neutral.

I would also not try to pull any inlays out that remain firm in the stock. After the stock is cleaned, I would rub it hard with a towel or at most "bone" it with bone, antler or a hardwood dowel to smooth the wood back down and then apply the oil.

I am by no means a Firearms Conservator, but I have learned a few things from real ones over the years. They always advise doing the least destructive things possible to whatever remains of the original piece. I would also make a replacement inlay as you mentioned, though.

Gus

 

[Curt LaManna]

As I recall, the Japanese builders, wrapped the breech plugs at times with very thin and annealed brass sheet metal to seal the barrels. If there is a ball and powder present, this would indicate that the iron/steel barrel did not get enough heat to ignite the charge. I don't know where you're at in AZ, but I have a CO2 discharger at my shop in Chandler. If you want to discuss further restoration of this, feel free to PM me through this site. I've done a lot of restoration work over the years, mostly for insurance claims of this type. I'd be happy to share my experience or advice. There's a few exceptional builders in the Western US, that can fabricate and replace missing parts, that I've not been able to make myself.