world famous bobski mystery thing, pic #191

bobski

heres a brass casing marked #28. its a winchester cartridge. was this an early brass 28ga hull? any value?

only winchesters

Hi Bob: If I read your ruler right the case is 1 3/4in. long. early all brass smokeless powder shells were for 2 1/2in. chambers, so it seems a little short.

Have you compared the diameter of the shell to a 28ga hull, both the diameter and lip diameter?

Regards dave

bobski

here it is compared to a current 28ga skeet round.

only winchesters

Bob: AGAIN, are the two "lip" diameters the same?

bobski

lip diameters are the same. lip thickness...the brass one is just a tad thinner.

luckyoldlouie

To me, it appears to be a navy line throwing device cartridge.
Louie

bobski

im starting to think along those lines too. get it? along those "lines?"[:o)]

heavyiron

Hi Bobski,

This is a turn of the century all brass 28 gauge shotshell casing. I wish I could make out the headstamp better but it looks to be WINCHESTER NO. 28. It is hard to tell if the one in you photo was ever fired and reloaded. Often the ammo companies would sell the brass cases as new primed empties for reloaders. This would be a typical headstamp for the period.

Yes, a shotshell casing such as this would have some value to a collector. IMHO, a case like this would go for somewhere between $5.00 to $10.00.

Regards,

Heavyiron

bobski

what year was 28ga invented?

only winchesters

Good morning Bob and everyone else"

What do we know:

Brass case with a "28" stamped on it. It's approx. 1 3/4in. long, and the lip diameter is the same as a modern 28ga. shell.

Bob: 28ga. has been around since the old "Black Powder" days. Like I said early "smokeless powder" 28ga. length was 2 1/2in. yours is much shorter than that!!!

The one thing the Navy is, it's standardized! Well it certainly was when I was in. Of course I wasn't on every ship the Navy has, nor have I seen every "Line Thrower" in inventory, but the ones I have seen are chambered in .45-70 and use a "blank cartridge".

This is a "special case" or it's been trimmed period. It's only 1 3/4in. long!!!

I do know that in the early days of the .410 those shells were 2 inches long. Could "early 28ga." shells be shorter than 2 1/2in. sure, but not 1 3/4in. IMO at least for being loaded with "lead shot".

Most likely it is sometype of "start cartridge" or "Initiator cartridge" or "Igniter cartridge" but exactly what I can't tell you.

Regards Dave

bobski

no sign of it being cut down. whats puzzling is that therisnt a used primer in it. it could be as was mentioned earlier, a factory hull never used. strange indeed. looks like we have a stumper here. [:0]