Ramrod

This is a copper alloy ramrod holder, it was used to hold the end of a ramrod against the underside of the barrel of a muzzle-loading musket, in this case from the Bron Bess musket of 1746. Ramrods functioned by allowing a user to ram the ammunition down the muzzle loading weapon. These were popular until the 19th century when breech loding became common.