Grey Morel
Member
My apologies if this is an incorrect forum, but we have no section for general ammunition discussion it seems.
As a student of both anthropology and firearms I was delighted to find several varieties of spent rim fire casings during a dig I'm currently working for an archeological field school.
I have seen many varieties of rimfire ammunition and many different head stamps, but some of these casings I was not able to identify with any real degree of certainty. This is where I was hoping THR could assist.
first some background information - The site we are excavating is in an urban area, with settlement dating to 1850; the good news is this site has been vacant since the late 30's so there is only about 80 years of habitation. When this site was occupied, it held a drug store and a split town-house dwelling (according to period sanbourn maps). This layout remained constant through the period of occupation, so the disturbance is minimal and the area is well documented.
I wish I had pictures, but until the backlog of artifacts is fully cataloged I will likely not be able to photograph them. That could take several more weeks. I have drawn this crude mockup to help in describing the three types of casings that I am not certain of:
Type #1: is pretty obviously an ordinary 22 short casing. The production history, stratigraphy, and period maps are all in harmony here. The problem is, I don't recognize the italicized "O" head stamp. I originally though it may have been Olin cartridge works, but I see that they used the "western" label before they acquired the "Winchester" label towards the end of our occupation period. I searched a few different online head stamp databases to no avail. Did Olin ever use the "O" headstamp, and If not, who may have?
Type #2: I originally though this may have been a cartridge for a powder actuated nailer, but after doing some research I see that such devices were not available until the early 20's, which is many years after the structures on the site were built. So while not impossible for it to be a nailer cartridge, I think it more likely that it is star-crimp blank, opened up from its firing, leading to the odd bevel around the case mouth (I have no experience with firearm blanks). Its head stamp is either omitted, or no longer visible. Am I likely correct in my identification as a blank for a standard firearm?
Type #3: This one boggled me for a moment, until I recalled two unusual rimfire cartridges from around this time period: the CB cap and the BB cap. The only other cartridges I am aware of which are shorter than a 22 short are starter pistol blanks, which have existed since the 20's, but if that’s what they were, I would assume they would also have some kind of bevel or mark like the other suspected blanks and they do not. The headstamp of this casing is also either omited or no longer visible. Am I correct in identifying this as a CB or BB cap?
Any help is identification, or new ideas to investigate are greatly appreciated.
As a student of both anthropology and firearms I was delighted to find several varieties of spent rim fire casings during a dig I'm currently working for an archeological field school.
I have seen many varieties of rimfire ammunition and many different head stamps, but some of these casings I was not able to identify with any real degree of certainty. This is where I was hoping THR could assist.
first some background information - The site we are excavating is in an urban area, with settlement dating to 1850; the good news is this site has been vacant since the late 30's so there is only about 80 years of habitation. When this site was occupied, it held a drug store and a split town-house dwelling (according to period sanbourn maps). This layout remained constant through the period of occupation, so the disturbance is minimal and the area is well documented.
I wish I had pictures, but until the backlog of artifacts is fully cataloged I will likely not be able to photograph them. That could take several more weeks. I have drawn this crude mockup to help in describing the three types of casings that I am not certain of:
Type #1: is pretty obviously an ordinary 22 short casing. The production history, stratigraphy, and period maps are all in harmony here. The problem is, I don't recognize the italicized "O" head stamp. I originally though it may have been Olin cartridge works, but I see that they used the "western" label before they acquired the "Winchester" label towards the end of our occupation period. I searched a few different online head stamp databases to no avail. Did Olin ever use the "O" headstamp, and If not, who may have?
Type #2: I originally though this may have been a cartridge for a powder actuated nailer, but after doing some research I see that such devices were not available until the early 20's, which is many years after the structures on the site were built. So while not impossible for it to be a nailer cartridge, I think it more likely that it is star-crimp blank, opened up from its firing, leading to the odd bevel around the case mouth (I have no experience with firearm blanks). Its head stamp is either omitted, or no longer visible. Am I likely correct in my identification as a blank for a standard firearm?
Type #3: This one boggled me for a moment, until I recalled two unusual rimfire cartridges from around this time period: the CB cap and the BB cap. The only other cartridges I am aware of which are shorter than a 22 short are starter pistol blanks, which have existed since the 20's, but if that’s what they were, I would assume they would also have some kind of bevel or mark like the other suspected blanks and they do not. The headstamp of this casing is also either omited or no longer visible. Am I correct in identifying this as a CB or BB cap?
Any help is identification, or new ideas to investigate are greatly appreciated.