I found these two wire baskets in a box of 16 gauge reloading tools from the late 1800s. They seem to be steel wire and have a loop on the exterior of the closed end. What could they be ?
Diameter of open end--1 1/4"
Diameter of closed end--1 1/8"
Height 3/4"
Chinese finger traps...Geo
Daryl, I wonder if they are some sort of bore cleaner. Rod with hook is put in from muzzle then hooked to basket's lop at breech and pulled through barrel.
I read somewhere, (Burrard, Garwood?) about enclosing shot in a wire bag. The idea being that it would tighten up the pattern. But if that is what that is it must be for a punt gun!.
Mike, it would be a really big bore, much larger than a 4 bore, to accept the baskets. The loop on the exterior of the closed end does not seem tough enough to take much pressure if pulled on.
Chain mail helmets for gnomes?
Separate powder from shot after you make that inevitable reloading mistake?
I use a piece of window screen stuffed lightly down into a tin can for the very same occasional thing now. Works perfectly!
...If not,,I'll go with the Chinese Thumbcuffs
They are tea steepers for use in the field or barrel tip screens to stop rodents from getting into your barrels while you are taking a break.
I think they are for soaking cleaning patches witt oil or solvent...about right size
I keep going back to grape and canister shot. Strong similarities.
The loop on the bottom is not there as an accident. I think David has the best guess so far.
SRH
I realize they may be 'baskets' at present, but looking closely at the wire mesh, it would appear they perhaps were not at an earlier point in life. In the Chinese finger lock sense, if they were flexible, they might have been used for something like dipping a loaded cartridge's mouth in wax or some similar operation. I could visualize a string being tied to the loop and the head of the cartridge being held by the mesh as it closed up. I think the loop is on the top.
Just a guess on my part.
Thanks to all. Keep the help coming. As to a bore cleaner of some sort, the baskets are very stiff and not compressible. They are larger than a 4 bore, so I cannot think of a bore they could be used in.
Next step might be to ask someone like Joe Salter.
Its also possible they don't have anything at all to do with reloading, so perhaps checking with a source that is knowledgeable in antique hardware and tools.
Since you have good pictures, you might also think of contacting the Smithsonian. Good mystery for the moment in any case.
Daryl,
Will the open ends of the baskets "mesh or nest with each other, making one egg shaped container? If so, they couyld be for sifting dirt from reclaimed shot? Or, separating shot sizes? Or for soaking breech plugs etc. in solvent....
They are "shot concentrators" supposed to give tighter long distance patterns. The theory was that they let the shot "trickle out" over a long distance. They did not catch on, obviously, no doubt because they could not have been too friendly to the bores.
There are references to them in several books and magazines of the 1890s and later.
The eye hooks indicate to me that they are not for use in a fired hull. I would think they are pulled through something, possibly a 10g. barrel.
I think I am obsessed by this....
But looking closer, and doing a little measuring.,..I think Rick might be on to something. Would work perfect in an old fashioned sink or tub drain, placed open end down...would make a great strainer for washing feathered game in the sink, and allowing for quite a bit of debris accumulation before the drain clogged, and a string to the loop would allow for removal.
Oh Heck...who knows!
Daryl,
I did a google Image search using the picture you provided and came up with a very similar set of screens in an add for keeping spiders and wasps out of BBQ grill burner tubes. Muzzle caps for the shotguns might suit the same purpose. A string or lace through the loop would keep track of them.
http://www.grill-repair.com/burner7002screen.htmlJohn
A screen to keep wasps from building nests in a gun barrel might be a good idea, but I don't think that's what these mystery items are. But I have no clue and haven't even submitted a wild ass guess.
I did once come very close to pulling the trigger on a 20 ga. shotgun that I leave in my garage when something told me to stop and check the bore. It was packed solid with a mud dauber wasp nest, and certainly would have blown up. The little bastards will nest in any small opening, and once did the same thing to the bore of a .177 cal. spring piston pellet rifle. I now cover the muzzle of my garage gun with an oiled rag to keep critters out.
Speaking of "Dirt Dobber" nests, I went through a whole day trying to get a weed eater to start and couldn't. I replaced plug, filter, primer ball, fuel line, new gas. I was getting fire to the plug, but it wouldn't hit a lick. Gave up in disgust and took it to a shop to be fixed. $40. later, found out it wouldn't start cause a d@#$%^ dirt dobber nest had been built in the muffler, and the exhaust was plugged.
huntermn, the "baskets" do not seem to mesh together. Just two nearly identical samples.
John E, that's an interesting thing you found. Amazing what the internet can do. My " baskets" have closed ends. Does your pictured screens have a closed end ?
Stan, I do think the "baskets " could be shot concentrators as others have suggested. I think , if so, they might have been used in punt guns or similar. I cannot think of a use for the loop on the closed ends, though. As said before, they were obviously put there for some reason.
I'm surprised no one has guessed scrotal protectors from summer weight suits of armor.
Were the shot concentrators of old made with brass or iron? Yours looks like iron mesh?
The "baskets" are a steel or iron wire mesh. The open edges are woven tighter and may have solder on them. Obviously, they are woven to the exact shape, not made out of flat stock mesh or similar.
We are on the wrong path. The loops on the bottoms just don't add up to shot concentrators. Bet'cha they have nothing to do with shooting. Now one thing we can deduce is they were intended to be hung from a string upside down, perhaps one on each end.....(see my tag line below).....
