US Gun Tool

[relichound]

This is a Civil War era US Ordnance Vise which I am told were used for gun repairs and maintenance in
the field. I was once a dealer at two Antique malls years ago and I went to tons of auctions to
find things to sell and also things to keep that I collected. Well, this vise was in a box lot at an
auction that was located on the edge of a large eastern battlefield. When I got it I had a strong
feeling that it could be something old enough to have been in the Civil War and so I looked in
dozens of Civil War memorabilia books and magazines. I finally found it in a photo of one
just like it excavated at a site with other Civil War relics. So this is for someone out there who
also has one that they can not ID.

 

[johan_steele]

I believe that is misidentified, it is not a mainspring vice but something called a "pin vice."

 

[relichound]

It is not a mainspring vise, and I didn't mean to say that. There is a spike at one end that
could be driven into a log or a table or to have a handle attached there. Then, as I understand it,
the vise could hold a small gun part so that it could be filed or modified for use in a gun,
or to make some other modification to a part. Was it called a pin vise? You may be right.