✅ SOLVED Early brass keg tap with lever, nozzle, piece of musical instrument, not quite sure ?

OhioTrevor

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Ok, Treasure.net friends. You have come through for me in the past, please help me out here: Does anyone know what this is? It's made of brass and was buried very deep. It was recovered on the site of turn of century school house and about 2 miles from a civil war campsite that once host to 50,000 union troops. At first I thought it was spit valve for an instrument but it appears much to big for that. Is it a primitive hose spigot? A tap of some kind? You'll notice the lever mechanism that seems to be designed to stop the flow of liquid through the tube. Any clue? For what it is worth, I found this in close proximity to a 1915 Barber dime and some brass rivets.

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terrafirma

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Could that extra cut in the body make it a whistle?
 

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TheCannonballGuy

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Your find is a (Buck)Shot-Flask's gated nozzle. It dates from perhaps as early as the late-1700s on into the mid-1800s. You lift the thumb-disc upward (which raises the rear gate) and tilt the flask downward to let the flask's spout fill up with buckshot balls. Then put the nozzle into the muzzle of your muzzleloading shotgun and depress the thumb-disc, releasing the measured amount of balls into the gun. See the photos below.
 

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OhioTrevor

OhioTrevor

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OK, TheCannonballGuy, you are amazing. :notworthy:

I assume the bag that held the Buck shot was leather and this would explain why I only found the nozzle? Amazing. Thanks for solving the mystery for me. I am in awe. Thank you.
 

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smallfoot

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Very nice find and good ID TCG!
 

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