✅ SOLVED Large shotgun shell?

[SkyPirate]

Shotgun or Artillary shell? Updated photos.

I found this at an old homesite dating back to the late 1800's. It looks like a very large shotgun shell. Has short sides and paper inside. measures 2 inch diameter and 5 inches around. Seems to be torn apart. Could it have been an artillary shell? WWI or WWII ? Has some writing around the primer. I can make out "W P (or R) a missing letter C O". And some other symbols I can't make out. Thanks for the help!

 

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[66Fairlane]

That thing look huge! Can you clean it up any so we can see if there are any marking/stamp on it?

 

[Gunrunner61]

Can you post pictures of the back and the side view? Will help in tell you the Id of the Item...........................HH

 

[Retired Sarge]

Part of a old flare cartridge?

 

[FoundInNC]

There was an 8 gauge shell made for waterfowl hunting if I am not mistaken, and I have a flare gun made by H&K that shoots 26mm rounds, here is a picture.

http://i53.tinypic.com/al4xvm.jpg

 

[Ism]

Could this be it?

A punt gun is a type of extremely large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations and private sport. Punt guns were usually custom-designed and so varied widely, but could have bore diameters exceeding 2 inches (51 mm) and fire over a pound (≈ 0.45 kg) of shot at a time.[SUP][1][/SUP] A single shot could kill over 50 waterfowl resting on the water's surface. They were too big to hold and the recoil so large that they were mounted directly on the punts used for hunting, hence their name. Hunters would maneuver their punts quietly into line and range of the flock using poles or oars to avoid startling them. Generally the gun was fixed to the punt; thus the hunter would maneuver the entire boat in order to aim the gun. The guns were sufficiently powerful, and the punts themselves sufficiently small, that firing the gun often propelled the punt backwards several inches or more.

Pictured is a punt shell next to a 12ga.

 

[SkyPirate]

Could this be it?

A punt gun is a type of extremely large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations and private sport. Punt guns were usually custom-designed and so varied widely, but could have bore diameters exceeding 2 inches (51 mm) and fire over a pound (≈ 0.45 kg) of shot at a time.[SUP][1][/SUP] A single shot could kill over 50 waterfowl resting on the water's surface. They were too big to hold and the recoil so large that they were mounted directly on the punts used for hunting, hence their name. Hunters would maneuver their punts quietly into line and range of the flock using poles or oars to avoid startling them. Generally the gun was fixed to the punt; thus the hunter would maneuver the entire boat in order to aim the gun. The guns were sufficiently powerful, and the punts themselves sufficiently small, that firing the gun often propelled the punt backwards several inches or more.

Pictured is a punt shell next to a 12ga.

WOW! That might be it. I will get a few more pictures up. Thanks!

 

[kuger]

some where I have pictures of my grandfather with a Punt gun,which was in a local museum for many years,but has disappeared

 

[SkyPirate]

Hey all I added new pictures. Is this an AA shell? Any help on the lettering around the primer?

 

[Red James Cash]

punt guns,muzzle loading.

 

[FoundInNC]

W.R.A. Co. Punt gun shell, The WRA New No. 4 primer was used from 1894-1932.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

SkyPirate wrote:
> Hey all I added new pictures. Is this an AA shell? Any help on the lettering around the primer?

Anti-Aircraft ammo used a long brass casing. You've got the short brass base from a cardboard casing.

Yes, the lettering (called a "headstamp") around the primer is helpful. "W.R.A. Co." means the Winchester Repeating Arms company. It was founded in 1866, and went bankrupt in 1931. In 1935, it was purchased at a bankruptcy auction, and was combined with another company to be the Winchester-Western Company. According to info at the Cartridge Collector's Exchange website, the earliest use of the "W.R.A. Co." headstamp was in the mid-1880s. Therefore, your brass base can only date from sometime between the mid-1880s and 1931.

If you're eventually able to make out any of the lettering below the "W.R.A Co." marking, let us know. I seem to see "04" at lower right, but that may be an optical illusion, and we need more than that. In 1889 and later, the lower markings started with the letters "WCF" ...which stood for Winchester Center Fire (primer).

Update: FoundInNC's post arrived while I was typing mine, so I didn't see it until after I clicked "Post." His info and mine give you the full story of the meaning of the markings on your casing-base.

 

[SkyPirate]

Thanks for the info. Brad!

 

[SkyPirate]

SkyPirate wrote:
> Hey all I added new pictures. Is this an AA shell? Any help on the lettering around the primer?

Anti-Aircraft ammo used a long brass casing. You've got the short brass base from a cardboard casing.

Yes, the lettering (called a "headstamp") around the primer is helpful. "W.R.A. Co." means the Winchester Repeating Arms company. It was founded in 1866, and went bankrupt in 1931. In 1935, it was purchased at a bankruptcy auction, and was combined with another company to be the Winchester-Western Company. According to info at the Cartridge Collector's Exchange website, the earliest use of the "W.R.A. Co." headstamp was in the mid-1880s. Therefore, your brass base can only date from sometime between the mid-1880s and 1931.

If you're eventually able to make out any of the lettering below the "W.R.A Co." marking, let us know. I seem to see "04" at lower right, but that may be an optical illusion, and we need more than that. In 1889 and later, the lower markings started with the letters "WCF" ...which stood for Winchester Center Fire (primer).

Update: FoundInNC's post arrived while I was typing mine, so I didn't see it until after I clicked "Post." His info and mine give you the full story of the meaning of the markings on your casing-base.

That's awsome! I was wondering what it could have been. Thanks for your help!

 

[SkyPirate]

That's the largest shotgun shell brass I ever found!