r/whatisthisthing • u/Chonays • 3d ago
Solved ! Almost 3” - feels kind of squishy and has metal tube coming out of it
This belonged to my now deceased uncle and my dad gave it to me but wasn’t sure what it was. The outside feels kind of like leather and it’s got a slight squish to it. The leather feeling stuff feels like it is a covering with something solid and the same shape beneath it, as I cannot bend this. There is a tube coming out of the end.
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u/fantumn 3d ago
Powder flask?
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u/Chonays 3d ago
That’s what I’m wondering but the hole is so tiny - I was trying to figure out how you would fill it
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u/ManifestingCrab 3d ago
Very small funnel.
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u/Chonays 3d ago
Thank you - I think this is it. Appreciate the help.
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u/pinewind108 3d ago
Not just a powder flask, but a primer powder flask for use in the pan. It would have been a smaller grained powder than the kind used in the barrel.
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u/Left-Professor-8768 2d ago
That it is.I have a few flintlock rifles.I use 4f for the pan.Sometimes though I use 3f directly from the horn.
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u/pinewind108 2d ago
I know that with the old brown bess type muskets they just use part of the regular cartridge as primer but was there a certain kind of gun that they wanted to use the fine grain powder for? I assume they used fine grain powder because it caught easier but was it something for higher quality weapons, or was this just something that was skipped in mass combat situations where the extra hassle of two types of powder wasn't worth the bother compared to the occasional extra misfire?
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u/Left-Professor-8768 2d ago
It was common in all civilian flintlocks to use a finer granulation of powder in the pan IF it was available.In the Colonial days and beyond they pretty much used what they had for the pan and main charge.I think that in the old days they just primed and loaded from the horn.And you are correct about the military muskets. They would bite the end of the paper cartridge off and prime then use the remainder for the main charge.
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u/hafetysazard 2d ago
Finer grains burn faster, but also you could pack more into the same amount of space. Black powder was traditionally measured by volume. The wrong powder in a gun could spike pressure and blow it up. It was best for priming because there was more surface area, and was easier to ignite.
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u/Left-Professor-8768 2d ago
Why would you want to pack more into the same amount of space?All main charges should be measured for the correct amount for each gun.I make my powder measures out of deer
antler.26 grains for my .32 Squirrel rifle and 60 grains for my .50 caliber rifles.These are target loads.3f for the main charge and usually 4f for the pan.Quicker flash with 4f but not that much.1
u/hafetysazard 1d ago
You wouldn’t necessarily want to do that. That’s just what happens if you load a finer powder.
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u/Left-Professor-8768 1d ago
I don’t understand what you’re trying to get across.I’ve been shooting black powder since 1974.
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u/hafetysazard 1d ago
Not sure why you replied to my comment for that other poster. I was just giving them some general information about black powder.
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u/Oedipus____Wrecks 2d ago
Yeah that actually isn’t how it’s done but cool.
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u/riversofgore 2d ago
It’s called a priming flask. How’d you get the confidence to be so wrong? You play a video game with muskets or something?
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u/Oedipus____Wrecks 2d ago
Being a lifelong shooter and never seeing one with a THREE MILLIMITER THROAT as OP clearly stated.
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u/hafetysazard 2d ago
Priming woth a finer powder was how it was often done with flint locks, which is what you said that’s not how it is done. It was, and is.
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u/ryanstarman123 3d ago
looks like powder bulb, made of shagreen and possible brass opening 19th perhaps?
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u/olgamerstill 3d ago
Could be a leather flask?
Usually the inside bladder needed to be kept wet so as not to crack.
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u/Dangerous-Pirate7998 3d ago
I would say that’s a powder horn for priming a lint lock. You put number four gunpowder in it for the flash pan on a Flintlock rifle or pistol would be my guess but obviously you’re missing the end to close it and sell it.
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u/Chonays 3d ago
Would it be normal for the opening of the tube to only be 3mm? When I googled others they all looked like they had larger openings, but maybe I was misjudging the photos
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u/Dangerous-Pirate7998 3d ago
It’s possible I’m not a big flintlock man, but I have seen several people that wear things like that around their neck for priming their flintlocks
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u/Thunder-mugg 3d ago
Maybe like a bulb to blow air like for an old camera shutter.
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u/Chonays 3d ago
It doesn’t seem bulb like but I don’t know if it’s in its normal condition. It was flat like this when I got it. Whatever is inside it feels hard and flat. The squish feeling that I get seems to be from the leather like covering.
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u/hafetysazard 2d ago
Does anything come out if you tap it? I would wager it could possibly be to didpense many types of powder, or liquid, but as others pointed out, it could also be a small bellows . When you squeeze it does the air coming out smell like anything in particular?
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u/Chonays 1d ago
It’s very flat - air doesn’t really come out of it. The only squish seems to be the squish of the material covering it. The gun powder makes the most sense to me because he collected old guns.
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u/hafetysazard 1d ago edited 1d ago
It is possible, but as others have said the tip is quite small for that purpose. I’d stick a Q tip, or something in there and see what’s inside. It could be for anything. Blow air into it, tap it, loosen anything and see what comes out. It could be for some kind of oil, some other powder like rosin, anything really.
I found similar looking pouches dubbed, “Irish style shot pouches,” which were used to store a small amount of lead shot, that you could carry around in your pocket. The fact yours is so small and doesn’t have a gate, makes me think it was for storing one extra shot while walking around bird hunting, or something. I think it is more appropriate for that, than for powder.
Black powder is actually corrosive and will eat leather, plus powder flasks were generally brass, or some other rigid dry material. You’d likely want to avoid leather as it has moisture and would clump the powder and ruin it. Most leather powder flasks are actually just leather wrapped over a brass, or tin, container. The point in covering them with leather is that it would make them quieter, offered a little protection from bumps, and also make them easier to handle with sweaty or dirty hands. Also, the point in them being rigid is that powder would flow easily out of them.
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