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Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted
The family went to an estate sale that was all vintage/antique items. Among the treasures they found was this beastie. There are no markings I can discern on the base and no apparent primer; rimfire perhaps? Or is it just a Knick-knack holder made to look like a shell? It is definitely old, but just how old is a mystery. Any ideas from the brain trust?





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Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of C-Dubs
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Old signal flare possibly?

About 40mm id



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Posts: 2863 | Location: SE WI | Registered: October 07, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
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If it were a cartridge of some sort, it would have to be a very large rimfire and that would require the brass to be pretty thin. How heavy is it? If you can see down into the bottom, a rimfire cartridge would have an open groove into the rim. Anything like that?

Based on its size and the shape of the mouth, though, I doubt it’s a cartridge of any type.




6.4/93.6

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Posts: 47410 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
semi-reformed sailor
Picture of MikeinNC
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quote:
Originally posted by C-Dubs:
Old signal flare possibly?

About 40mm id


Old flare rounds were for what’s called a “very gun” or “very pistol” made out of brass or pot metal during the world wars they fired brass cartridges. And used primers.

Your item doesn’t not look like one. It doesn’t have a primer pocket, and I’ve never heard of a rim fire round larger than .50. Which they certainly is.

Got any pics from the open case mouth?



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

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Posts: 11293 | Location: Temple, Texas! | Registered: October 07, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
SF Jake
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The mouth appears to be crimped down to a slightly smaller diameter as if it held something softer. It’s weird but looks strangely familiar at the same time.


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Posts: 3120 | Location: southern connecticut | Registered: March 20, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
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Weight is @ 5 oz. looking at it after a rinse in hot water, the base looks to be crimped onto a corresponding flared lip on the base of the tube. There also appears to be a very well finished seam in the side- it looks too clean and straight to be anything but machine made. There is a slight split at a he mouth. There does not appear to be a groove that I can see for a rim primer.





“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of bigmule
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I’m thinking it’s not fire arm related.
 
Posts: 2330 | Registered: July 31, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
semi-reformed sailor
Picture of MikeinNC
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With the new pic I’d say it is not ordnance related



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
 
Posts: 11293 | Location: Temple, Texas! | Registered: October 07, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by bigmule:
I’m thinking it’s not fire arm related.

I’m inclined to think the same the more I look at it, but still at a loss to imagine its actual use.




“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Non-Miscreant
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The very early 45-70 rounds looked like that. They held their primer inside and fired just like a centerfire with the firing pin striking the center of what looked like the rimfire shell. I forget what they called them, but they worked. This might be the same deal. Or not.


Unhappy ammo seeker
 
Posts: 18389 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of cas
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Is there a flash hole inside? There were internally primed cases, and cases where the head and body were made from two parts.


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Posts: 21106 | Location: 18th & Fairfax  | Registered: May 17, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by cas:
Is there a flash hole inside? There were internally primed cases, and cases where the head and body were made from two parts.

No flash hole that I can see.




“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by rburg:
The very early 45-70 rounds looked like that. They held their primer inside and fired just like a centerfire with the firing pin striking the center of what looked like the rimfire shell. I forget what they called them, but they worked. This might be the same deal. Or not.

No dimpling or deformation of the bottom that I can see, inside or out.




“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Free men do not ask
permission to bear arms
Picture of George43
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Tumble or Brasso it for a better look.


A gun in the hand is worth more than ten policemen on the phone.
The American Revolution was carried out by a group of gun toting religious zealots.
 
Posts: 3808 | Location: Spring, Texas | Registered: June 26, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Frangas non Flectes
Picture of P220 Smudge
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quote:
Originally posted by George43:
Tumble or Brasso it for a better look.


And if it's some random "they only made five of these and you found the only known example in an estate sale?!" kinda thing that belongs in the Smithsonian, then you've probably done the wrong thing by cleaning all the patina off it.


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Posts: 17172 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
quote:
Originally posted by George43:
Tumble or Brasso it for a better look.


And if it's some random "they only made five of these and you found the only known example in an estate sale?!" kinda thing that belongs in the Smithsonian, then you've probably done the wrong thing by cleaning all the patina off it.


Which is why I rinsed it with hot water only; just enough to get the dust and spider webs out of it. That it is old is not in doubt so it stays in its current condition regardless.




“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
 
Posts: 15601 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Frangas non Flectes
Picture of P220 Smudge
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You’re doing the right thing. To be clear, I was only highlighting the potential folly of tumbling and brasso. Smile

I wish I had more to contribute, but I’ll say this, cool find whatever it is. At the very least, it’s the sort of thing that would look neat on top of the mantle or a shelf over your safe.


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Carthago delenda est
 
Posts: 17172 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Repressed
Picture of ShneaSIG
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Punt gun shell?


-ShneaSIG


Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?"
 
Posts: 11059 | Location: MO | Registered: November 19, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeinNC:
With the new pic I’d say it is not ordnance related


The new pic makes me think I've seen that before. And the only place I would have seen that would be in the navy.

Ring any bell with you?



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 19685 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
It's pronounced just
the way it's spelled
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Got a museum nearby? Or you could do an image search on the internet.

But I got nothin'.
 
Posts: 1505 | Location: Arid Zone A | Registered: February 14, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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