It almost looks like a very early block "liberated" from one of the early one-piece Ideal moulds that were cast with the handle and blocks as a single unit, then cut for removable handles. That vertical bevel made me think if this. Lots of weird things were done in the past as a matter of necessity, or of boredom. I'm way out of my realm here, but I thought I once saw an Ideal Tong Tool with interchangeable blocks at one time. Or maybe I just made that up, I'm wayyy out of my comfort zone here.
30 cal?
Oops! I missed the .22 part.