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Originally Posted by Philip
Seems to me that you are working within three parameters:
1. Keeping it as authentic as possible based on available ethnographic info
2. Keeping it doable -- within the bounds of resources and manufacturing ability
3. (since you intend this to be a functional item used for hunting) Conformity to local regulations on hunting.
Looks to me that between you and Ricky, #2 is not a problem. #3 is already spelled out, you need to go flintlock (or percussion) in Massachusetts.
Satisfying #1 may take some doing, considering that we really don't have a great deal of information on Taiwan aborigine firearms, with just a few examples available for study in museums. Good thing you live in MA -- you can (and should) make arrangements to study their gun in person. The one my friend has here is almost identical, having pics of it would be nice but you would probably get more out of hands-on study of the one in the Peabody-Essex Museum.
Of course as we have discussed, this is a matchlock, and one of the most primitive variety. At this point, may I suggest that you contact curators and academics in Taiwan to see what other guns are in collections there, and have been studied by scholars. There must be something about them in ethnographic journals, Taiwan is a modern country with well developed academic institutions (the National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art has published some good articles on imperial court arms and military equipment which I have found most useful, but this does not have a tribal-cultures orientation). The point I'm trying to pursue is that since the Portuguese and Dutch arrived on Formosa in the 17th cent., there must have been at least a trickle of Western material culture influencing the native mountain people, and thus some attempt to duplicate a flintlock mechanism. There is probably an example or two in an ethnographic collection, at a museum or university, on Taiwan. If such an anomaly can be studied and copied, you have it made. You can develop the design into something that will actually work (hopefully be more advanced than the rather crude SE Asian tribal flintlocks we've been talking about), and which reflects an actual development in the native cultures.
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As Philip mentions, photos, dimensions, and measurements are very useful. But nothing tops being able to hold/view an actual specimen. I hope you do get to have a private view. Be sure to take clear photos and measurements. Don't forget to note if the barrel is round and tapered. If so, besides the barrel length, measure the approximate diameter at the breech, middle, and muzzle end. And take a bore gauge to measure the approximate caliber.
And a close-up photo of the lock/trigger and approximate length and height.
Philip: Thanks again for the education/history. Most interesting.
Rick