Northwest Dive Club

60south I love the ammo!

JimbobAK wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:19 pm Found a couple good ones today, my 1st Dr J Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters and for you Seattle guys a Claussen Brewing Assn beer bottle.

Nice! Where are you finding these?

Up in Ketchikan, my buddies and I dive for bottles/artifacts all the time

60south wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 5:05 pm Well, something a little different today from Port Townsend. Live ammunition, circa WW I? And a few older bottles, the two on the right are probably from the 1890's.

bottles200314a1.png

bottles200314b1.png

Ammo looks to be a stripper clip for an M1 Garand (WW2). Possible for older rifle, but would guess WW2. Cool finds gang

A Garand clip holds 8 rounds.

Perhaps it’s off a British or Canuckian vessel and the stripper clip is .303 Lee-Enfield. Can one of the rounds be removed from the clip so you can look for the head stamp?

RoxnDox wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 10:53 pmPerhaps it’s off a British or Canuckian vessel and the stripper clip is .303 Lee-Enfield. Can one of the rounds be removed from the clip so you can look for the head stamp?

There's writing but it's mostly corroded away. I took wire brush and sand paper to a couple... I can read "18" and a star, maybe a "S C" something.

Hmmm, interesting. Given the self-isolation in effect, it might be time for some detective work.

Hey, 60South! I love what a bored and knowledgeable group mind can do when it comes to finding info!!! No idea *when* they were submerged, but they are identified now.

So, in the Pentax photography forum where I spend/waste a lot of time, I posted pics of your ammo. For the headstamps, I converted it to b/w, boosted the contrast a bit, and rotated it. Got an answer within a day, thanks to member Bertwert (a bagpipe-playin', picture-shooting', rifle-shooting' youngster in Golden BC). It is .30-06 ammo, manufactured in 1918, intended for usage in aircraft machine guns. Since it's in a stripper clip, obviously it was also used on the ground. The maker was the US Cartridge Company (USSCo), 18 was the year, and the two stars along with the heavier-than-usual crimp (including the 3 stabs) indicate use in a/c.

b/w headstamp:


reference image of intact casing:


Sources refernced:

Several sources on other forums confirms what the stars mean, and that the USCCo (US Cartridge Company) identified the year on them (the 18 explained):
https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t ... tion/11756
https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t ... n/11296/20
https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t ... ed/15545/4

I figured to help with the boredom i would share a few of the dive treasures from the last couple years. Enjoy and let’s see some of yours!

Anheuser Busch Syrup Dispenser

https://www.antiqueadvertisingexpert.co ... irca-1906/

Porcelain chamber pot

Embossed milk bottles

Embossed medicine bottles

Independent Brewing Company Seattle

G.H.Moore bourbon
San Francisco

RoxnDox wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 1:52 pm Hey, 60South! I love what a bored and knowledgeable group mind can do when it comes to finding info!!! No idea *when* they were submerged, but they are identified now.

Most awesome! Thanks, I figured there's enough history and gun buffs out there that we could figure this out.

I love all the medicine bottles in your pics, that's kind of my specialty. Found another 'Washington Territory' medicine bottle while diving today, will post pics as soon as the barnacles are cleaned off.



Oh, here's one from today too... "Oak Valley Distilling Co. Extra Pony" from Braunschweiger & Co. Sole Agents, S.F.. This appears to have been quite the fly-by-night company, the bottle dating from the 1890's.
http://www.westernwhiskeytooltopgazette.com/2012/03/

Those Washington Territory bottles rock! Love it

Thank you 60south, Roxndox, and JimboAk for the history lessons.
-Curt

Hey, one more note on the antique ammo. Despite having spent a long time under the salt, those cartridges are in quite good condition. It’s possible that the primers and necks have remained sealed, given that they were lacquered for water tightness. Old explosives and propellants can become unstable over time, especially the sort of compounds used in primers.

If you keep them, *highly* recommend that you handle them with care, and locate a gun shop that deals with reloading. Get them to use a bullet puller to open the rounds up so the powder can be removed and the rounds safed. If you don’t keep them, turn in to local PD for safe disposal.

Jim

A quick shout out to Don at Octopus Gardens Diving who kindly filled my tanks today despite the shop being otherwise closed!

RoxnDox wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:44 pmHey, one more note on the antique ammo. Despite having spent a long time under the salt, those cartridges are in quite good condition. It’s possible that the primers and necks have remained sealed, given that they were lacquered for water tightness. Old explosives and propellants can become unstable over time, especially the sort of compounds used in primers.

Copy all. Despite their unique shelf appeal, I think I'll be delivering them gently to the local PD for disposal.

@JimbobAk, what the heck is that Anheuser-Busch... bottle(?) ... anyway?

So here's the latest finds, cleaned up a bit. The Oak Valley bourbon bottle has a griffin embossed on the front; a little scuffed from 120+ years under water but otherwise a good find. Plus a vintage Listerine bottle, Red Rock Cola (40's - 60's?), and a Washington Territory drug bottle from Port Townsend.
Fun stuff!

Safe journeys,

glenn

Cool finds! The local bottle especially. One of the local drug stores or pharmacies might even be willing to barter supplies for it (bet you might even be able to get a whole roll of TP if you bargain hard)

60south: I only give advice if asked, but I support your intention of disposing of the ammo. While I was not EOD, I spent much of my navy career in mine warfare. What most people think of as a mine, the moored contact mine dates back well over a 100 years. Salt water is supposed to make the explosive in them inert. Despite this we kept getting reports of mines from WWI being brought up in fishing nets and exploding 70 years after they were deployed.
-Curt

Just for the other side. I'd display them and never worry at all.

Here is a jar I found recently. Says Libby’s on the bottom front. Markings on the bottom at

0-9429

A

10

Any help would be appreciated.




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Nice little bottle from 110' at Cove 2. Only markings are the 6 "square" 0 3 on the bottom, and due to mold lines, seems to be post 1903? Old corked medicine bottle?

Nice find!

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Mud, minerals, chemicals and time make for amazing bottle finds...