Really old ammunition (not to be fired)

[pritch1986]

A friend of mine found some loose really old ammunition (no box) under some floor boards it seems to be single use rounds because theres no primer pocket,
The bottom of the casing is tapered in and has a white base with what looks like some priming material in the centre it,
the projectile is hollow pointed and around the projectile where the brass connects on the neck it looks to be crimped
the overall cartridge length is 63 mm
projectile diameter is approximately 7 mm in diameter
i have no idea what these rounds are and there is no shoulder so the diameter of the casing is approximately 7mm also

Im thinking they may be rounds out of a pre ww2 rifle but i have no way to tell.
If anyone knows anything about this particular cartridge i would be very pleased to hear from you

[Ron]

Can't help you from your description, a photo would be handy.

[Wayne Smith]

Very early - post Civil War - cases had an internal priming compound and no primer pocket. They didn't last long this way but maybe 5-10 years - off the top of my head - before the separate primer and primer pocket became standard. Is it possible that these would date back to the 1860's-early 1870's?

It appears as if you may have some valuable collector items anyway.

[Tazman1602]

Hmmm, can't picture it without a picture man! Got any photos? The guys here can surely identify if you have a pic.

Art

[pritch1986]

dunno if this'll work never posted a pic b4

[pritch1986]

in mm found in Victoria Australia

[Echo]

Wow. As Arte Johnson used to say, 'Verrry Eeenteresting'.

And I don't have a clue...

[pritch1986]

its got me blown those floor boards would ave been there for almost 100 years also i am thinking the casing is made out of something other than brass maybe copper its a real piece of history

[deltaenterprizes]

Interesting find, thanks for sharing!

[Wayne Smith]

Can you post a pic of the base/priming area?

[pritch1986]

here it is

[Bob Krack]

I think you have something really valuable there. To you personally or to someone wanting to buy it (them).

[RayinNH]

You could always send an E-mail with photos to this guy http://www.oldammo.com/. He might be able to help identify what you have...Ray

[Frank46]

Could be a cartridge for a british monkey tail rifle. If I remember right they were ignited by a percussion cap much the same as a muzzle loader. Just a wild guess on my part. If Double D sees this maybe he would have better info. Frank

[Randy in Arizona]

Those look like the copper coated carbon electrodes I was taught to carbon arc braze with in 1965 or 1966.

If they are cartridges of rather old vintage the lead bullets typically turn white due to a lead oxide layer.

Now, I have been known to be wrong on occasion, but that is what they look like to me.


42

[lwknight]

Look like carbon arc from an old style movie projector to me.
They also used carbon arc electrodes in search lights a lot during WWII and nowdays for promos.

We still use carbon arc rods for gouging steel.

[Blacksmith]

Here are some other cartridge collecting web sites that may prove helpfull.

http://cartridgecollectors.org/

http://www.ecra.info/start.php

http://www.municion.org/

http://members.shaw.ca/cstein0/heads.htm

http://www.ammo-one.com/

Blacksmith

[Bob Krack]

Would the weight be very minuscule?

That would indicate carbon electrode.

I 'spose this could have been a good April 1st question.

.

[markinalpine]

Those look like the copper coated carbon electrodes I was taught to carbon arc braze with in 1965 or 1966.

If they are cartridges of rather old vintage the lead bullets typically turn white due to a lead oxide layer.

Now, I have been known to be wrong on occasion, but that is what they look like to me.


42

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_arc_welding

Possibility?????
Mark