✅ SOLVED Shotgun shell head stamp

[villagenut]

I have yet to find what time period this was from or what gun fired it. I was guessing Remington based on the R and 1882 based on the 82. That guess could very well be in left field.Any history of it would be appreciated, you guys are great.

 

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[nova treasure]

45/70 Cartridge, The "R" actually stands for Rifle, The "F" indicates that the shell was made at the Frankford Aresonal, the 9 82 indicates Sept,1882.

 

[villagenut]

45/70 Cartridge, The "R" actually stands for Rifle, The "F" indicates that the shell was made at the Frankford Aresonal, the 9 82 indicates Sept,1882.

Thanks Nova, So was this a rifle used for hunting small game like turkey or bigger like deer or hog?

 

[david680]

That was actually a US military round for a the Model 1873 Springfield. Shoot a turkey with it and all you're likely to have left is a lot of feathers blowing in the wind. It's a very nice find, though, I'd be happy to find it any day!

 

[NHBandit]

the 45/70 was a large caliber round used by the military in such rifles as the 1873 trapdoor Springfield. Here is my favorite pic of those rifles taken a couple years ago at the Springfield Armory museum in Mass. Due to the invention of repeating rifles like the Winchester they were obsolete before they had a chance to be popular. These are unissued rifles that never left the factory and are still there to this day...

 

[villagenut]

That was actually a US military round for a the Model 1873 Springfield. Shoot a turkey with it and all you're likely to have left is a lot of feathers blowing in the wind. It's a very nice find, though, I'd be happy to find it any day!

Thanks for the little extra info David, it really does all help.

 

[villagenut]

Thanks Bandit, So this casing was from a military issued rifle, or was it a round that the military had preference to use? Just want to get the full understanding, I am not gun smart.

 

[NHBandit]

Frankford Arsenal made ammunition for the military. That is not to say that large amounts of it weren't sold as surplus to civilians. It could have been used by anyone from a soldier to a deer hunter.

 

[david680]

Its actual designation was 45/70 Government. It is used in sporting arms also, and you can still buy shells for them. However, yours is Frankford Arsenal, so it is a period military relic. Whether it was fired by a soldier or a civilian, who knows.

 

[BosnMate]

The 45-70 killed a lot of buffalo. Buffalo Bill used a 73 Springfield. Sharps gets the credit for being a buffalo gun, but that came along after the 73 Springfield. Besides buffalo, they were used to hunt elk, deer and antelope. Indecently, the government loaded some bird shot loads for the use of foragers to hunt with. Yours is not a shot load, like Nova said, the R stands for rifle, a C instead of an R meant it was a carbine round, and was loaded a bit lighter than the rifle cartridge, but they both looked alike is the reason the the head stamp. Your cartridge is an inside primed version, the crimp was to hold the primer cup in place inside the case. You are very fortunate to find an empty in that good condition. The Indians had figured out a way to reload those inside primed cases, so the soldiers were under orders to mash the empty's so they couldn't be reused. Did you find the case in Florida?

 

[villagenut]

I thank you too Bosnmate for even a better understanding. Yes I found it here in Florida but in 1882 where I am there was no real threat of Indians anymore, the white man had ran them out by the end of the Seminole Wars in 1858 or so. I thought I would try to find who lived on the property then and see if they had been in a branch of the military during the 1870's . I have actually written a 1000 page book on my little town and am using the artifacts I have found over the past 30some years to help tell some story line so all this info is good to me. I have started pulling relics out of cases that I haven't seen in a while to find answers that I gave up on back then. So I really appreciate all the input.