Emily:
"WRA CO" is clearly Winchester Repeating Arms. See, for example,
http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=headstampcodes#W or check Barnes
in the lab library. "38" is, of course, the caliber. The "S" may be
either "Short" or "Special" - the Special is about 0.357" ~ 0.358"
diameter, the Short is a bit wider - 0.374". There is also a bit of
difference in the cartridge length - but in which direction I'm not
sure - though I suspect the "short" was, like its name, a bit
shorter - again, check Barnes. The Special appears to have originated
with Smith and Wesson, the Short with Colt. Browsing the web, it's
apparent that Winchester made cartridges to suit a wide variety of
other manufacturers pieces, so the use of WRA ammunition doesn't say
much about the particular weapon it was used in.
Robert
At 1/19/2016 03:43 PM, you wrote:
>Hey everyone,
>I am currently working on a collection from Chinese woodcutting
>camps in Nevada dating between the 1870s and 1920s and am having
>some trouble identifying some artifacts. The artifacts were
>collected by a non-archaeologist in the 1960s and donated to the
>Forest Service, meaning they have no real context to help identify
>the function of the artifacts. If you have some time and would like
>to help, I created a photobucket album of the artifacts in question
>(there are about 37 pictures of about 22 artifacts that need
>identification). Most need a basic "What Am I?" ID, but there are a
>few pieces of ceramics that I don't know the name of the pattern
>for, which would also help. If you recognize anything, please let me
>know, citing the Catalog Number in the picture name. If you have a
>citation for an artifact, please let me know that as well. I
>appreciate any help you can provide!
>
>Emily Dale
>
>Album Link:
>http://s1053.photobucket.com/user/edaleunr/library/Artifacts%20to%20Identify
>
>The password is archaeology
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