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Home of the Old Ammo Guy's Virtual Cartridge Trading Table


Picture Page

August 2014


Two vintage shotshell related items.......

The first item shown here is a shotshell loading block made by the Union Hardware Company in Torrington, Connecticut. This company started business in 1854 and produced hardware and other goods, including fishing gear, roller skates, and of course hunting supplies. Essentially a shaped base of some unknown hardwood with five 5/16" grooves cut on the top with three strips of wood fit into the outer two and the center grooves so as to form two 'troughs' into which the shells can be inserted, as can be seen in the picture to the right. Narrow grooves accommodate the shotshell rims and hold them in place. The remaining two 5/16" grooves in the base are centered in the two 'troughs', allowing a space for punched primers to fall. The shells would then be removed from the block, reprimed and then put back into the block, where powder, inner wads, shot and top wads would be added and pressed by hand into place. This particular loading block is marked "PAT APPLIED FOR' and '10' on the center strip of wood to indicate the gauge. The label on the bottom indicates that it holds 24 shells; however, I find that 26 shells will fit. In addition the label states that it is 'a new and improved device for use in loading cartridge shells - simple and convenient.' I believe the earlier shotshell loading blocks consisted of rows of holes drilled into a piece of wood, into which the shells were inserted; typically, they would have had no means of holding them secure should the loading block get tipped over.

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This next item is an unmarked black leather box with a three-compartment tinned-steel liner, similar to Civil War musket cartridge boxes, but much larger. While pretty much of anything could have been carried in this box, I have made the assumption that it is intended for shotgun shells because it was found in a large wooden box that contained supplies for reloading shotgun shells. Included were empty shells, cans of powder, tins of primers, a crimping device for paper shells, powder and shot dippers/measurers, and assorted other items, none of which dated after the late 1880s. This box is made from five pieces of leather (not counting the straps), one folded to form the front, bottom, back, and top, two to form the ends which were sewn in place, and two sewn to the ends of the top. A strap and buckle on the front were used to secure the box, and it has a carrying strap across the top with a spring-hook that attaches to a ring on the left side. While it appears to have been commercially made, the leather has shrunk, the tattered top has separated from the back at the fold, and the closure strap was reattached by hand and has lost the end portion that would have been secured with the buckle.     

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