Not a gun, but a cartridge.

[mfree]

Well, a few days ago I get to the gun shop and there's a box of old cartridges that, as I was told, an elderly lady dropped off for disposal.

Not letting things go to waste, I picked through... and imemdiately asked if I may have it, since it was full of .41 LC, .32 rimfire, .38acp, .32 WCF, etc.

There's one, single rifle cartridge I pulled out, still shiny, that puzzles the hell out of me.

Dimensions:
neck inner .432"
neck outer .455"
Case overall 2.35"
rim .58"
case base (just above rim) .502
shoulder end to neck .75"
shoulder start to case end 1.5"

It has a mauser-style rim on it, and a bizarre headstamp:

North - E
West - 7
East - 86
South - what appears to be an 8 sided gear, or an 8 petalled 'mum.

it doesn't match 11.15 mauser, the werndl cartridges I can find, 11 murata's rim is too wide... I'm stumped. It's like a 97% sized .43 mauser.

Any clues?

===

EDIT: I peeke dinside to see if it was boxer or berdan... I cant' tell. I can tell you that it's a BP cartridge, since some powder is still packed in the bottom of the cartridge! That tells me it's unfired, it's natural size... and there's a little piece of what looks like red or maroon patching paper still stuck underneath where the bullet would have seated.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Easy one.

11.15x60R Mauser.

Yes, it's a little undersized in some dimensions, but that is not uncommon at all for cartridges for black powder rifles.

It will most likely be Berdan primed.

The headstamp is almost identical to one shown in Munhall and White's book on page 91.

It was made by Koenigliche Munitionsfabrik Erfurt, which was a government arsenal. I've never seen an explanation as to what the symbol was supposed to mean.