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Japanese ashigaru firing hinawajū.Night-shooting practice, using ropes to maintain proper firing elevation. Tanegashima (), most often called in Japanese and sometimes in English hinawajū (火縄銃, "matchlock gun"), was a type of matchlock-configured [1] arquebus [2] firearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese Empire in 1543. [3]
Japan was at war during the Sengoku period between 1467 and 1600, as feudal lords vied for supremacy. [8] Matchlock guns were used extensively and had a decisive role in warfare. In 1549, Oda Nobunaga ordered 500 matchlocks to be made for his armies. The benefits of firearms were still relatively questionable however compared with other weapons.
In Japan, matchlocks continued to see military use up to the mid-19th century. In China, matchlock guns were still being used by imperial army soldiers in the middle decades of the 19th century. [21] There is evidence that matchlock rifles may have been in use among some peoples in Christian Abyssinia in the late Middle Ages.
Ashigaru wearing armor and jingasa firing tanegashima (Japanese matchlocks). Ashigaru (足軽, "light of foot") were infantry employed by the samurai class of feudal Japan.The first known reference to ashigaru was in the 14th century, [1] but it was during the Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi period) that the use of ashigaru became prevalent by various warring factions.
According to Shinchō Kōki, [b] Nobunaga deployed about 1,000 matchlock guns between five commanders – Sassa Narimasa, Maeda Toshiie, Nonomura Masanari, Fukuzumi Hidekatsu and Ban Naomasa – and had the ashigaru press the enemy close. [8] [19] [24] Regarding the number of matchlock guns, the original entry in the Shinchō Kōki [b] states ...
Hōjutsu (砲術) / Teppojutsu (鉄砲術), the art of gunnery, is the martial art of Japan dedicated to Japanese black powder firearm usage. Hōjutsu is still practiced today, often with antique matchlock firearms such as the tanegashima. The martial art is most common in Japan where access to historical equipment is easier for practitioners.
The AK-47, commonly known as the "Kalashnikov", is the most manufactured assault rifle. [54] The battle rifle was a select-fire rifle that retained the long range of the M1 Garand. NATO members adopted battle rifles of their own. In practice, the powerful cartridge of the battle rifle proved to be difficult to control during fully automatic fire.
It was the next major development in firearms technology after the matchlock, and the first self-igniting firearm. Its name is from its rotating steel wheel to provide ignition. Developed in Europe around 1500, it was used alongside the matchlock ( c. 1410s ), the snaplock ( c. 1540s ), the snaphance ( c. 1560s ), and the flintlock ( c. 1610s ).