I believe the .254s are a useful size in cases like 8.15x46R and I think the .217s may be used in some military rounds. I'll have to check my books.

If you use those old primers don't forget they are probably corrosive, leaving salts behind when fired.
Used to wash the barrel out with water to get rid of any salts which of course attracts water and why so many old guns have rough barrels through lack of getting the salt out.
Looks like that glass jar contains primers which would be a pretty impressive hand grenade.
Regarding Brilliantine which I used when a schoolboy to impress the girls, the fashion for oiled hair was so common that it spawned another word called an antimacassar in the Victorian and Edwardian era which was a cloth on the backs of upholstered furniture to stop the oil in it from soiling the cloth.