6 replies to this topic

[Hung Toe]

I am attempting to help a friend determine if a musket he has is a Chinese antique or a reproduction piece. The piece was bought by his grandfather in the 1950's when his grandfather was a U.S. serviceman serving in the Far East.
The gun is 41" (104cm) long overall. The barrel is 29" (74cm) long. The gun weighs between 10 to 12 lbs. (4.5 to 5.5kg). I have more detailed pictures that I am able to send, including one showing Chinese writing that is stamped inot the stock.

Attached Files

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[ghostexorcist]

I'm no expert in this subject, but I might be able to help out because I'm pretty good at research. Could you please post the detailed pictures? The body style looks like it might be Ming-era or before.

[Hung Toe]

I would like to send you more pictures, however the forum limits uploads to 50K. Please tell me how to send multiple photos through the forum. Thank you.

[ghostexorcist]

Just upload them to an image hosting sight like imageshack.us or http://photobucket.com/. The sight will give you an internet url address that you can post on this forum. Just click the picture icon in the edit bar above--with the edit buttons like B (bold), I (italic), U (underline), etc.--and a box will appear asking you for the url address. Once you enter everything in, hit enter and the picture will show up for everyone to see.

[Hung Toe]

I hope these pictures say something to you.


http://s1172.photobu...3/coolcaffeine/

[ghostexorcist]

An initial search turned up this website for Ming-period fire arms that look very similar to yours. The site just so happens to be hosted by CHF member Thomas Chen:

http://chinese-gun.f....com/photo.html

You should contact him as he probably knows far more about this stuff than I do. I'll keep looking, though.

[Hung Toe]

Thank you for your reply. The research I've been doing on behalf of my friend who owns the gun has turned up some positive results. From the pictures I posted at Photobucket, one expert that deals in antique arms believes it is a genuine antique.

This Saturday a volunteer at a local museum is going to look at the gun. That person is an expert in U.S. antique weapons but I don't know if his knowledge base includes guns form the far east. I'd like to thank you once again for your efforts. I will put this search to rest for now. I believe I can turn the search over to the gun's owner at this point.