Tanegashima Matchlock
Japanese Gunsmiths (generic) · Rifle · Out Of Production · 1543
Also known as: Teppo, Hinawaju, Japanese matchlock, Tanegashima-ju, Hinawa-ju
Overview
The Tanegashima Matchlock is the Japanese matchlock long gun, a smoothbore muzzleloader copied in 1543 from snap-matchlock arquebuses brought to Tanegashima island by Portuguese adventurers aboard a Chinese junk. Tanegashima Tokitaka set a swordsmith to reverse-engineer the imported barrel and lock, and within a decade Japanese armories were producing the weapon in enormous numbers. Built around an octagonal iron barrel of roughly .50 caliber set in a lacquered wooden stock, it is fired by lowering a smoldering match cord held in a brass serpentine onto powder in an external flash pan. Because conscripted ashigaru could be trained on it in weeks rather than the years needed to master the bow, the matchlock reshaped Sengoku-period warfare, most famously at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 where massed volley fire broke the Takeda cavalry. It remained in service until firearms were modernized during the Meiji Restoration in the 1870s.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3970 g (140.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1390 mm (54.72") |
| Barrel Length | 1054 mm (41.50") |
| Action Type | Muzzleloader |
| Firing Mechanism | Matchlock |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Muzzle Velocity | 300 m/s (984 fps) |
| Effective Range | 80 m (87 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 250 m (273 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 2 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | None |
| Barrel Material | Iron |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Lacquer |
Calibers
- .50 Caliber Ball · primary — also known as 0.50 in lead round ball, 12.7mm round ball, momme-rated ball
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Muzzle Loaded
- Features: Smoothbore Barrel, Octagonal Barrel, Muzzle Loaded, Snap Matchlock, Brass Serpentine, External Flash Pan, Lacquered Stock, Ramrod
Variants
- Ashigaru-zutsu (light infantry type) — Size
- Samurai-zutsu (long/heavy type) — Size
- O-zutsu (heavy siege wall gun) — Caliber
Service history
Operators
- Oda clan forces · adopted 1549
- Ashigaru (foot soldiers) · as Teppo
- Tokugawa shogunate forces
Conflicts
- Battle of Nagashino (1575)
- Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War) (1592-1598)
- Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638)
Production
Production years: 1543-1870
Some accounts claim upwards of 300,000 tanegashima were manufactured within a decade of introduction; total production is unknown. Domestic manufacture declined under Edo-period peace and shogunal arms control.
Origin
Country of origin: Japan
Discontinued: 1870
Notes
Bore size was traditionally classified by the momme weight of the lead ball rather than by caliber; infantry guns ran around .50 while heavy o-zutsu wall guns were far larger. Figures here describe a typical infantry-class tanegashima; velocity is approximate for period smoothbores.
Background
Japan adopted firearms so enthusiastically that by the late 1500s it may have fielded more guns than any country in the world, yet under the long peace of the Edo shogunate it deliberately wound production down, an episode often cited as a society that 'gave up the gun.'