Help with ID

[William Yanda]

In a box lot I recently found, neatly cased in two paper shotgun shells (16 ga. inside 12 ga.) a brass cylinder 2 1/8 inches long. It had a cannelure about 1/2 inch back from the 45 caliber mouth. At the base, there was a rim just over 0.600, too big to fit a 45 Long Colt. Just below the rim, the diameter was 0.50. What puzzles me, is that it is hollow. There is no sign that there was ever a web.
What purpose might such an object have been used for?
Thanks
Bill

[1989toddm]

Sounds and looks like a 45-70 case to me. Others will be along with more educated answers[emoji2]
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160914/3893e8104cacfcc5d5c16fc976d99ad1.jpg


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[catskinner]

Blow tube?

[RayinNH]

Cake cutter for lube?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I think the OP is saying that it is simply a hollow tube, straight through from front to rear. It looks to me like it has been made from a case, but might have been purpose-made.

I can think of two reasons. It might have been a tube used to accurately breech-seat a bullet ahead of the case which would contain the powder, probably for target shooting. There is no way of making something consistent, like bullet pull from a case, than by making it zero. Or it could have been a cookie-cutter, used to cut bullets out of a tray of melted lube which has been allowed to solidify around them. In the latter case you may find traces of lube on the inside.

[Mk42gunner]

My guess is that someone drilled out the base of a .45-70 case to use as a cake cutter and then stored it in the shotgun shells, much like people used to use them for match safes.

Robert

[Oyeboten]

How about some images looking into or through the object...image from the base end, and, from the smalle end?

[mdi]

Balloon head cartridge case?

[William Yanda]

No lube inside, but present on the outside. I suspect it was a cake cutter. Thanks for the help, not having experience pan lubing, that never occurred to me.