Bullet Pencils

A while ago I bought a brand new brass bullet pencil - I loved the idea and the shape - which then led me to look into where they originated from. Apparently soldiers in the American Civil War kept their pencil stubs in cartridge casings to stop the point from getting broken. Eventually this idea was developed into advertising bullet pencils which as the name suggests were given away as promotional merchandise. Apparently they are quite easy to find in America at garage sales etc. but unfortunately pretty difficult to find here in the U.K. - as far as I know the idea never caught on here! I have managed to find a few on ebay which weren't too expensive (and many more which, with postage etc., were well out of my price range) and I shall be keeping my eye out for more. I'm not interested in 'collecting' as such - I want to be able to use them -  they work really well as pencil extenders and are also great for just chucking into a pocket or bag without having to worry about damaging the lead.