what are these for?

I got these years ago in a lot of junk I bought at an auction. they mic. about .577 what gun are they for? they are filled with BP and look original to me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They look like old rounds for N-SSA skirmishing. For a rifled civil war musket.

they are defiantly old, I think they may be original,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They have been skirmishing for almost 70 years- that looks like a Lyman
#575494 315 grain bullet.

Lyman or Rapine. I shoot the Rapine. Moose makes one, too.

Not original. They are NSSA rounds from back in the day. Bullet mold is still in production.

Back in the 80"s I had a friend who was a bp fanatic and he had a short barreled rifle that loaded similarly to a 73 springfileld but was an older model. He had cartridges similar to those that he put bp into and just stuck the bullet into the case and shot it. Worked with a cap somehow I think but am not positive. I shot it a couple of times but honestly do not remember much except the shell casings were similar to our picture. Perhaps someone here knows what kind of rifle it was.

Look like cardboard Hahn tubes for a percussion Sharps, available from Hahn machine works.

Those are cardboard tubes made for skirmishing. I don't think you can even buy them anymore as most everyone uses plastic now. I quit using them almost 30 years ago as you couldn't clean them and they got awfully messy after a few reloads. I got a big bag full with a friend's skirmish gear I bought when he gave it up last spring, gave them to a couple of friends who still use them. 315 grain semi-wadcutter, there never was a bullet like that back in the day. Trash the tubes and melt the bullets down.

Hahn's tubes are .50 caliber.

I am ignorant, of course I know what a skirmish is but what is it everybody is speaking of here in modern times? is it reenacting in some way?

that thing don't make any sense to me. The bullet is pointed into the "cartridge"... and what is the orange stuff at the other end?

olskool said:

I am ignorant, of course I know what a skirmish is but what is it everybody is speaking of here in modern times? is it reenacting in some way?

Click to expand...

It AIN'T reenacting, it's live fire competition with Civil War era guns including artillery. It's unusual because A) it's Civil War B) it's done as a team C) all targets are breakable and D) it's against the clock and it's about the most fun you can have with black powder guns. Look up North South Skirmish. Association for more info. We are the Where's Waldo of shooting sports.

Stophel said:

that thing don't make any sense to me. The bullet is pointed into the "cartridge"... and what is the orange stuff at the other end?

Click to expand...

The bullet is pulled out with fingers or teeth, powder is dumped into muzzle of musket, drop cartridge, put bullet in bore, ram, prime, shoot and hopefully hit something. Orange stuff is just the closure of one end of the tube.

Stophel said:

that thing don't make any sense to me. The bullet is pointed into the "cartridge"... and what is the orange stuff at the other end?

Click to expand...

It isn't a cartridge, it holds a bullet and a powder charge for use. The mini is removed from the tube and the powder is poured down the barrel. The mini is then inserted in the muzzle, pointy end up if the shooter isn't caught up in the speed thing and gets careless. It's then rammed down, hammer cocked, old cap removed and a new one placed on the nipple. Some shooters put the bullet in the tube nose down and others base down, it's a personal thing. BTW, whether plastic or cardboard we call them "tubes" and one end is closed permanently. The "orange stuff" is a card plug that was put in the tube when it was manufactured and is never removed.

The N-SSA has matches for all the following: Rifle-musket, Smoothbore musket, CW cartridge rifles, carbines, both breech & muzzleloading, revolver, single shot smoothbore pistol, Rifled cannon, Smoothbore cannon and mortars. Dave what did I leave out? The Fall and Spring Nationals at Ft. Shenandoah are quite a show. Not only do you get to shoot black powder you get to break things too.

I see. thank you.