And now for something completely different...
C010 - Collector's item: a walking stick made from spent brass bullet cases.
Length 34.5 inches (88 cm)
This stick is a fine example of the many and varied artefacts that have been fashioned from spent shell or bullet cases. The handle consists of a single cartridge, 26mm (just over 1") in diameter, with a dummy brass bullet inserted. It is ideally sized and fits the hand surprisingly comfortably.
The shank consists of eight slightly smaller cartridges, about 21mm (13/16") diameter. The percussion caps have been drilled out to provide a snug seating for the neck of the cartridge above. The whole thing is held together by a threaded steel rod passing through the shank and a tapered brass spacer into the handle.
The whole design has been carefully thought out and executed, resulting in a very solid stick which will support a good weight. It's quite heavy, of course - about 910gm (2 lbs) - but not too heavy to be perfectly usable.
On the left is a close-up of the percussion-cap-end of the handle. It is
stamped "1942", which very likely gives us the date of the stick itself -
heaven knows there were enough bullet and shell cases lying around during World
War II. I'm no firearms expert, but the size of these bullets is clearly
something heavier than a rifle. Possibly some sort of heavy machine-gun
ammunition? On the right is a shot of the other end of the stick. A shouldered brass plug
is inserted into the neck of the bottom cartridge and securely fixed to the end
of the internal steel rod, forming a hard-wearing tip.
Here you can see how the bullet cases fit together to form the shank.
And here are a couple more shots of the top end. Note that I have not attempted to polish this stick - I have merely cleaned
cleaned it up a bit. Some collectors prefer to keep the original patina while
others like to keep their brassware highly polished. I would say this item has
never been polished, as each cartridge retains a slight surface "blueing" at
the point where the heat of the discharge was presumably most intense.
A most unusual and very collectable item in perfect condition, yet thoroughly practical and usable.
SOLD