Found in a Civil Camp, what is it?

[Fullstock]

I found this a while back in a camp area where I found mini balls, buttons and other Civil War items. A friend suggested that it was some type of cleaning rod for a rifle. Thoughts?

 

[Old Pueblo]

Cleaning rod is a good guess. Thats what I was going to say.

 

[Old Pueblo]

I looked it up, and it does appear to be an old cleaning rod, without the bristles, which probably rusted away or something like that. See here: https://www.militaryuniformsupply.com/civil-war-era-deluxe-pistol-cleaning-kit

 

[Fullstock]

I looked it up, and it does appear to be an old cleaning rod, without the bristles, which probably rusted away or something like that. See here: https://www.militaryuniformsupply.com/civil-war-era-deluxe-pistol-cleaning-kit

Thanks Old Pueblo, it sure looks like it.

 

[Fullstock]

You sent me in the right direction Old Pueblo, looks like it’s a carbine bore brush.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Glad to help.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I agree a bore brush.

 

[CRUSADER]

Civil War car aerial.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

That rifle/carbine bore-cleaner brush's missing bristles were made of coarse hair or some kind of stiff fiber... which rotted away.

Forty years ago, I dug one EXACTLY like yours at an 1864 civil war battlefield in North Georgia... and others have been dug from civil war sites. I capitalized "exactly" because some small details of the bore-brush's form are very important for determining its correct ID. Note that its brass attachment-end is threaded, to screw into another metal part. Also note that there is a slot where the ends of the twisted brass wire fit into the attachment-end. Its overall length is also important. Internet research shows there are several slightly-different models of this bore-cleaner brush... some of which are from slightly after the end of the civil war. See the photos below, which show a US Model-1866 carbine bore-cleaner brush, and a Model-1873 brush for the US .45-70 Springfield Rifle, and a "Sharps Carbine" bore brush with no model-date. Remember, the brass brush's overall length is important when you view these photos. (You'll have to check the photos' file-name for the model and date info, because I don't know for sure what order the photos will get posted in.) Note that some have a leather thong which is connected directly to the brush's brass attachment-end. Other have a threaded end, which screws into the brass ferule on the leather thong. I can't find any which a labeled with certainty as being pre-1866... but I can tell you that more than just a few have been dug from civil war battlefields and campsites.

I must mention, I think that some (but not all) of the McPheeters website's identification and dates of these bore-cleaner brushes is inaccurate. I hope somebody here already knows or will have better luck than I did in researching the ID of these long-bodied, threaded-end bore brushes than I did.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

To help avoid confusion in researching the correct ID (and time period) of the rifle/carbine bore-cleaning brass brushes, here are two photos of first-half-of-the-20th-Century ones. The first is a Model-1903 Springfield Rifle's bore brush, and the other is a World War 2 US M-1 Garand Rifle's bore brush. Both of these have copper/brass wire bristles.

 

[Fullstock]

Interesting read TheCannonballGuy, and thanks for the pictures as well. Question though, just to clarify, do you think my (and your) brush is Civil War period, or post Civil War?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I wish I knew for sure that your/our brass bore-cleaning brush was from the civil war, or from later. As I indicated above a significant quantity have been dug at civil war sites, so we always assumed they were from that time-period. But despite much online searching, I have not yet found any documentation that "our" long-with-threaded-end version of the bore brush was manufactured before 1866.

What is the total length of the one you found? As you see in the previously posted photos, most seem to be a good bit shorter than yours.

 

[Fullstock]

I wish I knew for sure that your/our brass bore-cleaning brush was from the civil war, or from later. As I indicated above a significant quantity have been dug at civil war sites, so we always assumed they were from that time-period. But despite much online searching, I have not yet found any documentation that "our" long-with-threaded-end version of the bore brush was manufactured before 1866.

What is the total length of the one you found? As you see in the previously posted photos, most seem to be a good bit shorter than yours.

I checked and it’s 5 1/8” long, is that the same as yours? The camp where I found this was a late camp, probably 64 or 65, but I wouldn’t think Post War.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Fullstock wrote:
> "I checked and it’s 5 1/8” long, is that the same as yours?"

I dug my brass Rifle/Carbine bore-cleaner brush at least 40 years ago, and sadly I have no idea where it's at now. But that length matches my memory of it. Like yours, mine came from an 1864 military site, and like yours mine was found among civil war bullets.


The problem for us is that yankee Occupation troops camped on some of those same wartime sites during the years of the so-called Reconstruction era, well-into the 1870s. The proof of that is the slightly post-civil-war gunparts (such as Trapdoor Springfield Rifle parts), late-1860s coins, and definitely-postwar uniform buttons we dig at civil war sites.)

I hope the info and photos I posted will eventually lead somebody here to find and provide the correct ID and time-period for us.