I think I found my first civil war bullet?!

[Coil-2-Soil]

I dug this bullet at a church that was founded in 1790 and has a lot of history. While I was there an older gentleman and his daughter and her husband stopped at the church and gave me some history of the area. The church is two story with the second story being used by slaves to worship. I later found out he was 90 and he had a great grandpa that told him a story of how when he was a boy he had hid under his bed when the Yankees came through making my bullet even more special. He had a big smile on his face when I showed him. Didn't find much else but I didn't need to for it to be a great day. This is my first find that I think is civil war era. Any feed back would be helpful. I am in eastern N.C. so I know we have history here.Thanks

 

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[Coil-2-Soil]

Hey,good to hear from you usmcscorpio! My next goal is to find a 1800s coin of some sort. Still looking for that great location. Happy Hunting up there buddy.

 

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[sawmill man]

Im late to this thread ,but great job on the find, and the history on the church and story memory's are priceless. learn all you can, it helps passing the relics on down the generations.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks sawmill man. Finding it caught me by surprise and started me looking for other areas around me to try and find more cw relics. HH

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Ok,finally got some calipers and measured the Minnie ball. Diameter is .53 and the length is .97. Inches. So would it be a 58or 69 caliber? Thanks.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Because it is a bullet for a Muzzleloader (the bullet gets loaded into the front end of the barrel), it has to be manufactured slightly smaller than the bore's diameter, lest the bullet fit too tightly to force into the gun barrel. So, your civil war era Minie-bullet measuring .53-inch means it was made for use in a .54-caliber Muzzleloader rifle. It was probably intended for use in an imported .54 Austrian rifle, because Sherman's army had thousands of that kind when it invaded North Carolina in 1865.

I should mention... bullets made for use in a Breechloader (the bullet gets loaded into the back end of the gun barrel) will be a bit larger than the gun's bore diameter. For example, in comparison to your .53-inch diameter .54-caliber Muzzleloader bullet, a .54-caliber Breechloader bullet would measure .55 or .56-inch..

 

[Truth]

Beautiful 3 ringer


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[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks for all the info Cannon. I am still learning and find the history very interesting.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks for looking Truth.

 

[Joe73]

Great first find! I went out about a month ago with my son and we found a cannonball fragment for our first find.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks,and a cannon ball fragment is pretty great too. It sure keeps you looking for more. Makes you appreciate history a little more when you can hold it in your hand. Happy Hunting.

 

[devldog]

coil-to-soil, Congrat's on the find of your 1st CW Minnie' Ball. May this be only the first of many. As said, it is a beauty, and you have a great story to go along with your relic from the elderly gentleman. FF1 beat me to asking about the inside cavity of the bullet. Sometimes a tiny symbol can be found in some of the bullet bases such as a star or number which can make some of these bullets even more valuable and rare. Best of Luck to you in your return hunt to this area. Great Save on some CW History.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks devldog, I would love to find more CW artifacts. Good luck and happy hunting your way.

 

[devldog]

Thanks, and the same to you as well. I look forward to seeing more of your finds as they come. HH

 

[Davers]

Because it is a bullet for a Muzzleloader (the bullet gets loaded into the front end of the barrel), it has to be manufactured slightly smaller than the bore's diameter, lest the bullet fit too tightly to force into the gun barrel. So, your civil war era Minie-bullet measuring .53-inch means it was made for use in a .54-caliber Muzzleloader rifle. It was probably intended for use in an imported .54 Austrian rifle, because Sherman's army had thousands of that kind when it invaded North Carolina in 1865.

I should mention... bullets made for use in a Breechloader (the bullet gets loaded into the back end of the gun barrel) will be a bit larger than the gun's bore diameter. For example, in comparison to your .53-inch diameter .54-caliber Muzzleloader bullet, a .54-caliber Breechloader bullet would measure .55 or .56-inch..

Always Great Info TCBG.

That reply would have taken me 20 min to type cause I type slow & bad Spelling.

It also would not have made perfect sense like yours.

Again nice Minnie Coil-To-Soil.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

Thanks Davers,and if you look back at your post # 17 you said it looked like a 58 cal.so good call on your part. TheCannonballGuy was a lot of help and very knowledgeable in helping here and I read his posts on other questions and learn from him there too. Thanks and good Hunting to you.