Identifying old cartridge box

[KatieVT]

Hopefully, this is the right forum to post this in. It's not a firearm, but an accessory.

My great-grandmother died this past spring and her house is being cleaned out. An old cartridge box was discovered in the attic and given to me, as they knew I'd be interested in it. The house was built in the early-to-mid 1800s and has a ton of old "stuff" including 1920s linens (never used!), Victorian-era baby clothing, and more.

I have found almost no information on this type of cartridge box. It is slightly curved (belly box style?). It has metal (tin?) cartridge tubes; there are 26 holes. My uncle is away; when he gets back I'll use his calipers to get an approx. measure of the caliber (larger than .50 cal.). About half still had cartridges in them! Some are well-wrapped in heavy paper, others in newspaper. I unwrapped some of the newspaper ones and the newspaper is from 1836 (from researching some of articles).

Anyone know what type of cartridge box it is? Approx. dates of use?

I have pictures of it here: http://www.smithfamilyfarmvt.com/mystery/mystery.html

 

[gordy]

If they are still working on cleaning the house , make sure they check in all the nooks and crainnies and on top of the beams . While working for an electrical contractor I"ve found many artifacs stuck down between wall studs and braceing etc. Great find . :thumbsup:

 

[bangfxr]

I'm not sure of the cartridge box with the metal tubes but I think that they would be along the lines of the western european design german or belgien.It looks like the kind that was exported and used by mexican troops in the 1836 but I'm taking a stab in the dark. The buttons and pins are WWI design for military forces under the command of the king of england the one pin that looks like a cotter pin is a hat pin for troops from the Common Wealth of Australia. This device I think is still used today but made of plastic. The legging looks like the type used in early 1800's but I've seen in late 1800's photos of little boys wearing them dressed like a big game hunter. I'll look and see what I can find when it slows down a little.

 

[flintlock75]

The items appear to be British Commonwealth issue.
The cartridge box was most likley made in Austrailia and issed to local militia troops, the combination of full caliber ball and buckshot would indicate the box went with a smoothbore musket, probably an M1839. The insingnia is WW1 austrailan, the RAMC badge is the "Royal Army Medical Corps" I hope this helps with your research. What a great find.

 

[KatieVT]

Thanks! It is really a neat find. The newspaper cartridges make a really great addition. I asked about old guns; apparently there was one, but years ago, during "hard times", a distant relative purchased it.

I'm also in the process of researching how to clean rust spots out of a never-used, still-has-original-tags, damask linen tablecloth and napkins from the same attic. It will be gorgeous if it can be cleaned up.

BTW, is the black powder in these cartridges still dangerous?

 

[flintlock75]

Yes, the powder is still flamable. I have an old powder horn, that still has powder in it, although tuned to dust, i poured a little out and put a match to it and it burned very well.
good find.
As far as your linnens go, your local fabric store will have a bottle of liquid rust remover, try it on corne piece to test it but it should work just fine on your antique linnens.

 

[Zonie]

Black powder is just a mixture of three ingredients. These only react with one another when they are exposed to a temperature over 480*F which causes them to ignite.

If kept cool and dry they will last forever which makes black powder made 250 years ago just as explosive today as the day it was made.

The only thing that will make black powder 'harmless' is water.
The salt peter used to make the powder is water soluble and it can be washed out of the mixture which basically ruins the powder.

Humidity doesn't provide enough water to accomplish this 'washing out' so treat any black powder you have as if it were new.

Black powder will not ignite from being crushed or from static electricity so, really, as long as it isn't exposed to a flame or spark it is not a great hazard.

 

[JV Puleo]

Nice. A militia "belly box" common from about the beginning of the 19th century until about the 1830s. Forced to guess, I'd say around the War of 1812 but from the newspapers you found, made into cartridges, it was obviously used for the last time much later. They are fairly common in New England.

The metal tubes will probably measure around .640 to .690, suitable for the .69 caliber standard musket which took a a ball that usually measured about .630 - I think "16 to the pound." Yours is very complete. They are also found made by nailing leather to a wooden block that was drilled to hold the cartridges. You'll find little in print, and likely nothing on the internet about these.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Nice. A militia "belly box" common from about the beginning of the 19th century until about the 1830s. Forced to guess, I'd say around the War of 1812 but from the newspapers you found, made into cartridges, it was obviously used for the last time much later. They are fairly common in New England.

The metal tubes will probably measure around .640 to .690, suitable for the .69 caliber standard musket which took a a ball that usually measured about .630 - I think "16 to the pound." Yours is very complete. They are also found made by nailing leather to a wooden block that was drilled to hold the cartridges. You'll find little in print, and likely nothing on the internet about these.

Quite correct, no reason to think it is any earlier than 1800 or that it came from anywhere other than the United States. Militia provenance is guaranteed. Thanks for the excellent post by JV Puleo.