No clue

[CarolinaFinder2011]

No clue as to what this is but found it with some odds and ends from an estate sale. It is made of some sort of metal and it sounds like there are little tiny things moving around inside when you shake it. The small end has an opening but it is sealed with wood or something. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks

 

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[Tuberale]

Reminds me of a CO2 canister, but that dinged exterior probably assures it isn't. Would be interesting to see what's rolling around inside: should be too difficult with the little corkscrew from a Swiss Army knife.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Looks just like the same size and shape of 1950s/60s CO2 cartridge for the pellet-gun I owned back in that era. Those gas-cartridges had a tiny seal in the outer end of the narrow "neck." The cartridge in the photo shows external rust-pitting from 50+ years of being in the dirt outdoors. The tinging sound from inside it probably due to rust-crust chunks which have formed inside it, because the seal had been pierced.

 

[High Plains Digger]

My first impression was CO2 cartridge, also. Never seen one with that surface, but I have never seen one that has been buried for any time at all.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

What you have is a cO2 cartridge from a WW2 era "Mae West" Jacket, (inflatable life vest). Heavily corroded for some reason. Google image search "Mae West Jacket"

Here's a couple on e-bay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-WWII-US-A...ultDomain_0&hash=item1c1c72c397#ht_1250wt_932

 

[CarolinaFinder2011]

Thanks NOLA and everyone else for your help. I think I will try and open the end up and see if I can get whatever it is making the noise inside out.

 

[marble]

I hope it's not an explosive of some sort. As I'm sure many of you know (much more than I do), those become very unstable over time. Just please be careful.

As an aside, a few years ago my mom found some loaded shell ammo that my dad decided to bring home from WWII as souvenirs in 1945. He had it sitting in the crawl space for decades. When Mom discovered them, she freaked and at my urging contacted the police, who came with a special box and removed them from her premises. The officer said they were potentially very dangerous.

/Topic Drift off.

Nice item - looks a little like a fossilized Coke bottle.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

marble.... These din't have any kind of explosive in them, just compressed cO2.

 

[High Plains Digger]

"Why don't you come up and inflate me sometime?"