A few years ago, I was working a job that originated around Dexter, KS.
This was one of several items that was found at the site. I'll even give you a hint and say that it was unearthed.
It is cast iron, and the end cap grooves were originally an eyelet that has since rusted away.
I already know what it is, and it caused quite a stir with the bigwigs (a few of them pooped their shorts...) when we found 4 of them together. how many members here know what it is too?
Added: Winner listed below. This is an oilwell perforating charge. After a well is drilled and the wellbore is cased, they send a string of perforating charges to the bottom of the wellbore and detonate them in sequence. The rounded metal end goes off like a cannon shell and blows a hole through the wellbore casing and deep into the strata so that it will hemorage raw petroleum
These puppies were originally used on a well outside of Dexter, KS when it was first drilled around 1983. The well was pumped for several years, but then production dwindled off and the well was capped around 1996.
The well remained capped for about 10 years, and then the cap was drilled out using 5" diameter "wash pipe". While unplugging the cap, these babies were unearthed from 5,500 feet below the surface of the earth, where they had been sleeping since 1983.
These two beautiful specimens were collected by the county sheriff's bomb squad shortly after they were phtographed here.