Smoke,

There was a lead "gunflint wrap" recovered at the Battle of Fallen Timbers 
site (Toledo, OH), reported here:

http://www2.heidelberg.edu/FallenTimbers/FTFinalMaster.html

And illustrated here:

http://www2.heidelberg.edu/FallenTimbers/FTArt/Final/Plate15.JPEG

But is appears more as an expedient adaptation of sheet lead than a 
manufactured item.

Bob Skiles

-----Original Message----- 
From: Smoke
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 4:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Lead gunflint wraps ....

Put my thinking cap on and did a google search for "lead gunflint wraps".
Well, I learn something new every day.  Seems there WERE manufactured ones.

http://www.treasurenet.com/treasures/askmarkparker/200501.htm

and urls of other examples of where they have been found archaeologically.
I have never seen them mentioned in the reprints of old military manuals
from the early 1800s but those are devilishly hard to find.
On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Mark Branstner 
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Posing a question for one of my colleagues, Rob Hickson ...
>
> We are doing some research on the sheet lead washers that were used to 
> wrap
> gunflints in order to secure them in the jaws of a flintlock firearm ...
>
> Now, some of these are clearly homemade, but some appear to be 
> manufactured
> specifically for this purpose, often with a hole relieved at the folding
> point at the back of the gunflint.
>
> (1)     Is there a standard term for describing these? I have heard
> "washer", "wrap", "cap" ....
>        Is there a contemporary term? Perhaps out of the fur trade or
> shorekeeper literature?
>
> (2)     Any references that people can remember? From either domestic or
> military sites?
>
> Any help or leads will be greatly appreciated!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mark
>
>
> --
>
> Mark C. Branstner, RPA
> Historic Archaeologist
>
> Illinois State Archaeological Survey
> Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
> 23 East Stadium Drive
> Champaign, IL 61820
>
> Phone: 217.244.0892
> Fax: 217.244.7458
> Cell: 517.927.4556
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> When you think of that perfect retort five minutes after the conversation
> is over -  that's when you're:
>
>  "... bursting with the belated eloquence of the inarticulate ..."
>
> Edith Wharton in the "The Age of Innocence"
>



-- 
Smoke Pfeiffer

There is nothing in the middle of the road
but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.