🔎 UNIDENTIFIED What is this detector find from a old mining area in MT?

[Goodwood]

My wife was checking out a place with her new Minelab Vanquish 540(great machine by the way) and came across what I first thought was a Dore bar as we were in country the old timers had found a lot of gold in and we’re off a main trail they would of used to transport between the mines and town. Kicker is it had a plug in the bottom and was full of soil. What do you think it is? It is lead but far to big to be a fishing weight. Very crudely made. 5” long 1.25” thick 134 grams

 

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[cudamark]

Home made plumb bob?

 

[GlowingArtist]

Some type of small plunge pump thing, maybe even an early pastry type?

 

[Goodwood]

Home made plumb bob?

That is a good possibility I didn’t think of that

 

[pepperj]

Plumb, or a window sash weight

 

[creskol]

Looks like a sounding weight to me.

 

[Ed144]

I've found old pipe fittings in mining areas that were sealed with lead. I think lead was used to seal threaded pipes. The roll of lead may be a convenient way to carry the sealant.

 

[Goodwood]

Some type of small plunge pump thing, maybe even an early pastry type?

Some type of small plunge pump thing, maybe even an early pastry

I've found old pipe fittings in mining areas that were sealed with lead. I think lead was used to seal threaded pipes. The roll of lead may be a convenient way to carry the sealant.

That could be! They did a lot of hydraulic mining in this area in the early 1900’s

 

[Goodwood]

Looks like a sounding weight to me.

I had to Google it:

sounding weight​

Weight of streamlined shape attached to a soundingline or to the suspension of a current meter when observing depth and/or velocities in streams.

This seems pretty logical. The area has a old flume and was hydraulic mined. Near a creek. So I guess I could see a old timer smarter then me getting real precise out there with it. A couple of the pictures of sounding weights look very very similar.