Id Help

[Horn]

What is the best way to photograph unknown cartrages for help with Identification,  (size reference ) I recieved a shoebox full of cartrages that I have no idea what they are  Some are labled and most are not,  some are paper patched some are rimfire some are strange looking.
     After I get a pic or two can some one help me post them?? and/or suggest a good refrence book
     Thanks
          Mike

[John Traveler]

The easiest way I can think of identifying unknown cartridges is to first organize and document their dimensions:  neck, bullet, shoulder, base, and rim diameters, rim thickness, case length, and headstamps.

Next take these dimensions and try to find a match in Cartridges of the World, by Fred Barnes.  There are others, of course, but this is the most easily available at your local book stores.

Digital photos compared to known cartridges and with the dimensions should be enough for a positive ID/

HTH
John

[Horn]

Thanks John,  Now I need to dig up the Dial caliper and do some measuring.  Then I will  Take some shots.    It may be a while my motivation comes and goes.

[Dalton Masterson]

There may be a cartridge collecting club near you as well. Do an internet search for cartridge collectors association, and they may be able to help. I lived next door to the president of a local club and never realized it until after I moved. Good luck! DM

[Double D]

BoarHunter97 originally posted this list as a reply in this topic.  After talking with Graybeard we felt that the post was so useful to collectors that we would "cut" it from this thread and post it at the top of the board for reference

Here are some sites to try
http://www.notry.com/cart.htm
http://cartridgeguys.web1000.com/Cartridges-2.htm
http://www.owlnet.com/quality/headstamp.htm
http://www.afte.org/ExamResources/headstamps/headstampsIndex.htm
http://cartridgecollectors.org/
http://www.leclairdavis.com/default.htm
http://members.shaw.ca/cstein0/welcome.htm
http://ammoguide.com/
http://www.ammo-one.com/
http://www.poszukiwanieskarbow.com/greg/main.htm

Thanks BoarHunter97 for a great post!

[mikehaas]

What is the best way to photograph unknown cartrages for help with Identification,  (size reference ) I recieved a shoebox full of cartrages that I have no idea what they are  

Once again, I find I register on a forum (hello everyone) to answer a "visual" cartridge question.  Usually it's more like "can someone post a picture of a _whatever_ next to a _whatever_...", but same idea.  if only those folks knew about my site!

My website http://ammoguide.com/ may help - one of the tools I have there is a "Visual Comparison Tool" that, like magazine-article photos, allows you to compare any 8 of the 250+ rounds in the database on screen at the same scale, at an accuracy of .01 inches.  Example screenshot (shown smaller than actual size)...



Mike Haas
site developer

PS. Just so there are no surprises, note that to compare all 8, you have to subscribe (I keep it very affordable), but the free demo still allows you to look at all the rounds in the database and compare any two at once, and that sounds like even that may help you a good bit.

[mikehaas]

And as a followup, there is a new Cartridge Identification & Search Tool at http://ammoguide.com

It lets you input various case dimensions, then looks for matches according to the way you want them compared (see the snapshot).



By using the right dimensions and tolerances, you can identify individual rounds or search for RANGES (like all that have .308 bore and greater than 2" case length)

[marlinman93]

Horn,
 It's always a good idea when taking pictures for anything where scale is needed, to lay a tape measure next to the item while taking the picture. This will at least give others a rough idea of the size of the object.