Guess what this is?

[TX Jack]

I dont have an answer so this is not that type of quiz. Maybe some of you antique collectors may know. This is a 44 caliber ball with a patch and a copper or brass cup all attached with a small pin in the center. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/txjack/bpcase.jpg
I am guessing it was made prior to 1873 since it is not a real cartridge case. Looks like it could have been something similar to the rounds that had a rolled piece of paper that held the black powder. I dont know if this one used paper or something else to cap off the bottom of the metal cup. It is very unusual.

[geargnasher]

Shish-Kabob, anyone?

I'll take a SWAG: Looks like a home-made version of the F. Alexander Theur cartridge. I'm assuming there's a touch hole in the bottom somewhere.

Sam Colt was kicking himself as he turned down the patent rights to Rollin White's bored-through cylinder and let the soon-to-be-legendary Smith and Wesson duo snap it up. Until 1869, when the patent expired, some Colt revolvers were converted to Theur's setup, and I would imagine that creative individuals might have made their own versions to speed the loading process in their percussion revolvers.

Gear

[TX Jack]

You may be right about the proprietary makeup of this "cartridge". I haven't been able to find anything like it. The cup on bottom is completely open. I have wondered what would hold in the powder and still allow a spark through to ignite the powder. Paper might do that but then why the hard cup? Structural integrity I suppose.

[leftiye]

Makka the boolit fly straight? If it doesn't open up like an umbrella that is.

[AZ-Stew]

Send an e-mail to Mike Venturino. He may know.

Regards,

Stew

[home in oz]

I will guess for a breechloading carbine of Civil War vintage.

[littlejack]

Thats a round ball, sitting on a felt wad, sitting on a cylinder.

[GP100man]

Could they have shaped a charge in onion skin or thin parchment ????

[geargnasher]

I don't know how the pin is attached to the cup, but if this was designed for use in a revolver, one would need a way to pull the brass tube out of the cylinder to reload, and it makes sense that a pin could be used for that purpose. If it was for a breech-loader, I would think the tube would be difficult to extract unless punched out with a ramrod.

I'm also guessing that paper was used to cover the rear of the tube to hold in the powder, and, after the "cartridge" was seated, a pick was run through the nipple to puncture it before capping.

Gear

[edit] One more thought, thought, what types of.44 caliber breech-loading percussion rifles have existed?

[x101airborne]

i dont have it in front of me, but my Lyman Cast Bulllet Handbook told a story of something like this. It was meant to stabilize the round. Dont know if this is the same, though. The ones in the book had only a flat copper or bronze disk held on to an egg-shaped bullet. looks similar though.