CSI my round ball

[Older The Better]

I found this today in a little wash by the river, it kinda has me confused.
There is a pattern that resembles cloth on it, is this the patch impressing the lead when fired?
There is a large projection which I assume is the sprue, is it poured that big or was it a pulled with a worm,
The bottom shows deformation which makes me think it’s a fired bullet, it doesn’t look like chewing

So if this was fired, why did they fire it with such a huge projection on the side, I can’t imagine it was accurate and seems careless to me

If it was fired is it possible it got stuck in the barrel after the powder went of causing the cloth impression then was pulled with a worm

Never fired just pulled

Anyway I was curious how you guys see it, maybe you have a better explanation than any of mine

 

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[l.cutler]

The cloth pattern is from the patch around the ball when it was loaded. The sprue does seem large and I always try to cut them much closer. When loaded normally the sprue is placed pointing directly up so that it doesn't affect the ball's flight when shot. I don't believe it was pulled, the hole would be much deeper.

 

[Older The Better]

Thanks, I was thinking of that thing bouncing down the barrel and in flight would make it wildly inaccurate but I’m no expert in how exactly a round ball behaves in the barrel and in flight. I’ve found others with large sprus but I didn’t see any indication they were fired I guess somebody around here found they worked well enough

 

[Older The Better]

Dug this one a few days ago the weird top to it makes me wonder if it is even a round ball

 

[releventchair]

If the hole looking area cleans out , it was a pulled ball. The rounded mound of lead outside the hole hints of that. Otherwise the mold sprue hole was inaccurate or damaged.
I have not seen a poorly cast sprue with a nice void like that in it. (The hole looking area). Yes , running out of lead , or running a couple discard/remelt balls to pre heat a mold could happen that could make for a short pour , but usually a sprue is over filled to avoid voids.

One pic shows a spot that looks like a well trimmed sprue on it.... But depending on ramrod tip and amount of force needed to load the ball it could just be deformed.
IF that flat was the top toward muzzle , the raised/holed area would have had to be loaded downward?
Doable , but it's easier to center a sprue in the barrel with sprue up. Not a law though!


Sprue up ,or sprue down will fire just fine. The patch is a gasket and engages the rifling (unless in a smooth bore) and that stabilizes the ball imparting a well thrown football type spin. So the sprue (if not loaded touching the rifling or barrel wall) does not interfere.

 

[Older The Better]

The Hole Doesn't Clean out that's how it is, thanks for straightening out my limited understanding of black powder weapons, there's a good chance the round balls I find are native they were in the area up to the civil war, maybe it was a matter of them having sub par/ damaged/worn out equipment. I would say limited understanding but ive learned that natives came to be exceptionally good at shooting, modifying, and maintaining their guns

 

[releventchair]

The Hole Doesn't Clean out that's how it is, thanks for straightening out my limited understanding of black powder weapons, there's a good chance the round balls I find are native they were in the area up to the civil war, maybe it was a matter of them having sub par/ damaged/worn out equipment. I would say limited understanding but ive learned that natives came to be exceptionally good at shooting, modifying, and maintaining their guns

The fabric patch impression looks coarse. A heavy linen or blanket material, maybe.

Natives could have made molds. I want to say they did , but not going to look for examples.

This pic shows the dimple on top of sprue from the lead cooling. Part of the reason to pour more than needed and let it leave a gob of excess. That helps avoid voids caused by an air bubble too.
The mold your ball came from would be interesting to see.... But it sure worked.