.69 bullet...civil war?

[richtam123]

I dug out this bullet in an area known for CW artifacts. It looks legit but it appears to have 4 rings and not three. Confirmation as CW would be appreciated.

 

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[Ninjafossils]

It looks to be a three-ring minié ball. Civil war. Nice find!

 

[gunsil]

I can't see if the bullet has a hollow base which minie balls have. Have you measured the diameter to be sure of the caliber??

 

[richtam123]

I can't see if the bullet has a hollow base which minie balls have. Have you measured the diameter to be sure of the caliber??

I used a micrometer to be sure of the diameter.

 

[gunsil]

Well your caliper is showing 10 mm, which is about .39 inches. A 69 caliber is .69 inches. If the base isn't hollow you have a more modern bullet.

 

[GatorBoy]

Not all Civil War era bullets had concave bases.
Based on the diameter of that one I would guess it was post Civil War.. But since those grooves aren't reeded I would say it was probably late 1800's to early 1900's.
After that most U.S. bullets had tiny vertical lines "reeds" inside the grooves.

 

[GatorBoy]

Like this

 

[richtam123]

What bugs me about this particular bullet is that is has 3 rings plus a half sized ring at the top. I haven't seen a CW bullet like this one.

 

[GatorBoy]

I only see 3 grooves.
I think you're looking at the raised areas as rings.

 

[richtam123]

I only see 3 grooves.
I think you're looking at the raised areas as rings.

Lol...I'm such a noob at CW stuff.

 

[GatorBoy]

Ha.. me too really ..everything is relative bro.
Gotta start somewhere.

 

[richtam123]

Okay a better update. I finally measured the bullet correctly with a digital micrometer. It appears to be a .42 cal lead bullet. The curious part about this bullet is that it has 3 crimped rings. I can't find a single picture of a 3 ringed bullet with that caliber.

 

[Beavertail]

It would have started off as .40 or even 38 caliber when it struck whatever it hit it expanded. That is a fairly modern bullet

 

[richtam123]

I agree it's modern but I can't seem to find a 3 ringed crimped bullet on the net. Lol...this darn thing is obsessing me.

 

[GatorBoy]

...

 

[jaken]

I agree it's modern but I can't seem to find a 3 ringed crimped bullet on the net. Lol...this darn thing is obsessing me.

Most likely a .38 police round. probably 40's or 50's.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your fired bullet appears to be a .38 Long Rimfire, made between 1878 and 1891, by the Phoenix Metallic Cartridge Company. Go to the following webpage and scroll most of the way down it to see the .38 Long Rimfire photo and info. It seems to have the small raised band above the bullet's uppermost body-groove, like yours. I should mention, the brass casing's lip is crimped into the lowermost of the bullet's three body-grooves, which is why the third groove doesn't show in the photo. THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR