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Civil War Cartridge Box


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Collector5516

I don't have a ton of Civil War pieces but have always wanted one of these and while the condition is not great, its not too bad and the price was reasonable. What do you guys think?

Each side of the box is marked "C.S. Storms Maker NY".

I believe this is the pattern 1861 but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, the tab closer has separated but was sitting inside one of the tins. Do you think it should be reattached? What can I use to prevent the leather from flaking further? Pecards?

THANKS!

post-9906-0-68618700-1401848660.jpg post-9906-0-62296500-1401848681.jpg post-9906-0-63253700-1401848709.jpg post-9906-0-75515300-1401848728.jpg post-9906-0-74489000-1401848744.jpg post-9906-0-77742500-1401848770.jpg post-9906-0-83565100-1401849242.jpg

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Nice looking M1861. Personally, I would not treat it. When you treat leather of this age with any type of oil, it tends to alter it permanently. In some cases, oil treatment can actually hasten the decomposition of the leather. With that being said, I think the box is in pretty decent shape. Very displayable.

 

You can reattach the tab with hemp thread used in leather work.

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Collector5516

Thanks for the compliments (and advice about the leather). This past weekend I went to Rennigers and other antique shops/markets in Pennsylvania. My grandparents took me there when I was kid and thought I'd see if I could find anything good there now. Almost everything military related was rather common and priced 3 times as much as it would cost on eBay. I found this cartridge box in a showcase in one of the antique malls. Because it was an extravaganza weekend all this dealer's items were 20% off so I felt the price was reasonable. Having little knowledge about this type of item I liked that the US plate appeared to have been on the box forever as evident by the leather tie leaving an age mark.

 

I just found that this maker had a contract in 1862 to make 15,000 of these. Neat!

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Very nice cartridge box in overall very good condition compared to most I've seen! As Patriot said, I wouldn't put any type of treatment on it. As long as you don't live in the desert (very dry and very bad for leather!) and you handle it as little as possible, it should survive nicely just the way it is. Great find!

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Thats a Fantastic Piece of History you have got there

from the Civil War what a great item to get into a Collection Well Done :thumbsup:

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Collector5516

Thanks guys. I'm going to do as everyone recommended and leave the leather just as it is. This would have held .58 cal rounds, yes?

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Yes, this particular box would have held 40 .577 or .58 caliber rounds. Twenty loose paper cartridges would have been placed in the top, open compartments. If you remove the tins, there is a space where two unopened packs of ten rounds a piece would have been also stored. These unopened packs were square in appearance, and bound with twine.

 

Variations of this box were also designed for .69 caliber as well, for the M1816 and M1842 pattern muskets.

 

The single cartridges that were stored in the upper portion of the tin is pictured here:

post-2801-1309325987.jpeg

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Here is a rare, unopened pack of .58 caliber ammunition. Two of these were stored in the lower compartment, only accessible by removing the tin.

post-2801-1309326090.jpeg

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Collector5516

Patriot - Thank you for sharing those images. Where did you get that unopened pack??? I can't imagine there are too many of those floating around.

 

Do you know of any forums dedicated to Civil War collecting? I found the Civil War Bullet forum but that doesn't seem to be nearly as active or as informative as our forum here.

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Very nice!

I'm always looking for some when I come in the USA but I never find some of these.

How much does this king of carbidge box cost now ?

 

Aury :thumbsup:

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Collector5516
Very nice!

I'm always looking for some when I come in the USA but I never find some of these.

How much does this king of carbidge box cost now ?

 

Aury :thumbsup:

 

Aury - I paid $305.00 for this cartridge box. As I said earlier, it has some condition issues but came with the original tins and is maker marked (although the seller did not know that).

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