Not a Tool, But a Component...

[smokeywolf]

Reckon I won't reload this one.

1887 Frankford Arsenal 45-70 case. Assume the "4" means April.

It's very close to a couple of runs of the "Morse Pattern" 3 piece cartridge case. That had a removable head, a rubber seal and the tubing that completed the case.

Going to have to go through my boxes of odd and old cartridges and cases. Have quite a bit of this kind of stuff.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Cool stuff!! I have a little collection myself! (Three really Rifle Pistol & Shotgun.) Definitely in for "the drawer"

CW

 

[glassparman]

I'm a big time cartridge collector. Been going to SLICS for the past few years but won't this time.

Headstamp collecting is fun!

I have a bunch of live vintage .45-70 rounds.

I also look for old balloon head style .45-70 so I can get more BP in the case.

Mike

 

[RicinYakima]

That appears to be a cartridge for the Navy/Coast Guard line throwing 45/70 trapdoors.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

That appears to be a cartridge for the Navy/Coast Guard line throwing 45/70 trapdoors.

That might also explain its coloring. Salt air takes a toll.

I have seen a few different line throwing guns. One I remember was built by H&R and another was a Savage. Both singles.

CW

 

[smokeywolf]

Actual coloring is more like the photo of the head. Smart(?) phone's flash distorted the color a bit.

On another note... I mentioned the "Morse Pattern" cartridge. Here's a link with a little info on it...

THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

 

[Charles Graff]

That appears to be a cartridge for the Navy/Coast Guard line throwing 45/70 trapdoors.

That is my call as well.

 

[RicinYakima]

Fire Departments used them for river rescues and sending messenger lines up tall buildings where we could not get a ladder.

 

[glassparman]

I have some of those cartridges but they are sealed in a small OD metal can so I have no idea what they look like.

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

I found what i think is a fired 20MM Anti aircraft brass case. Actually the scrapper had half of a 5 gallon bucket full.
When i put it next to a 50 cal case. The 50 cal. looks like a 3006

 

[richhodg66]

1937 is a pretty late head stamp for military .45-70, but it seems to me I read somewhere once that there were still a few National Guard units armed with Trapdoors up until the dawn of WWII. Does anyone know when the last Trapdoors were taken from the inventory?

I never knew fire departments used the line throwing guns, but it makes perfect sense, guess I never thought about it. Cool to know that.

 

[smokeywolf]

Rich, it's 1887. I thought it was 1937 until I looked at it with a magnifier. Not even sure Frankford was producing 45-70 in 1937.

 

[RBHarter]

The line throwing guns stayed in service into the 70s .

 

[smokeywolf]

Back in the '50s and through most, if not all of the '60s Dad had 2 line-throwing cannons. As I remember, they were around 40 to 50 millimeter bore.

Back then, there were two popular diet drinks called Metrical (sp?) and Sego. Mom drank the Metrical and Dad figured out in short order that the cans were the perfect fit to the cannon bores. Dad took her empty cans, filled them with cement and they were his ammunition.