I have two very old empty cartridges that were found in the San Jacinto Mountains that I’m trying to identify, they’ve been buried for about 100 years, are crushed and incrusted. They appear to be about 50 caliber and are 1 3/4” long, the part that has me confused is that they appear to be rimfire cases, but I’m thinking that they might be balloon head military cases that had the center fire primer on the inside. One has a firing pin strike in the center, the other does not, they don't appear to have any head stamp on them. Is anyone familiar with old military 50-70 cartridges?

Thanks J. pickup, I think you nailed it! This morning I talked to the guy who found them, and the area where they came from was once an old military camp, so it all makes sense.