Just finished my first civil war battle site! Found several bullets (some may be post

swVa

Jr. Member
Feb 16, 2015
25
9
Christiansburg Va.
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT pro
Radio Shack Discovery 1000
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1445890492.625876.jpg ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1445890505.959507.jpg ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1445890526.825050.jpg ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1445890541.145241.jpg ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1445890553.161164.jpg
 

Upvote 0
OP
OP
swVa

swVa

Jr. Member
Feb 16, 2015
25
9
Christiansburg Va.
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT pro
Radio Shack Discovery 1000
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Anyone that can identify what caliber bullets some of these are would be helpful. Thanks for looking!
 

villagenut

Gold Member
Oct 18, 2014
5,761
10,258
florida
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Looks like you found where someone was shooting at targets or something similar
 

Indian Steve

Silver Member
Oct 23, 2011
2,794
4,449
Stuart VA
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Sorry to say, but all of them look fairly modern to me. I live about 45 miles from you in Patrick County. Good luck in the future. steve
 

OP
OP
swVa

swVa

Jr. Member
Feb 16, 2015
25
9
Christiansburg Va.
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT pro
Radio Shack Discovery 1000
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was looking online once I got home and was having a hard time figuring out what I had, and that must be why lol. I can't find anything that looks like the second picture if you know please post! I will have to do some more research.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2006
13,004
17,108
South Central Upstate NY in the foothills of the h
Detector(s) used
Minelab Musketeer Advantage Pro w/8" & 10" DD coils/Fisher F75se(Upgraded to LTD2) w/11" DD, 6.5" concentric & 9.5" NEL Sharpshooter DD coils/Sunray FX-1 Probe & F-Point/Black Widows/Rattler headphone
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Anything with a copper, steel or brass jacket is not civil war. Even the lead bullets look like modern .38/.357" bullets.

The round nose look like .45 and 9mm FMJ bullets.
 

OP
OP
swVa

swVa

Jr. Member
Feb 16, 2015
25
9
Christiansburg Va.
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT pro
Radio Shack Discovery 1000
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks Charlie that was going to be my next question! I knew I was searching on the edge of the battlefield but maybe too far out (trying to find somewhere others might have missed). With your information I will be able to tell in the field what I found. Newbie issues lol!
 

ivan salis

Gold Member
Feb 5, 2007
16,794
3,809
callahan,fl
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
old soft lead blackpowder rifle bullets from the civil war era --tend to of large caliber 58 caliber or 69 caliber -- most commonly (about 9 /16 ths across the base for 58 cal and 5/8th or so for 69 cal ) and they tend to be very heavy in weight-- they tend to be whitish colored due to oxidation of the lead in the ground for a long time (but not always --depends upon the soil conditions) they often have "hollow" rear bases and 3 rings around their bases to act as a gas seal to trap the burning blackpowders gases to propel them ...more modern "smokeless" bullets burned much hotter and faster making much more "pressure" thus the bullets were much "faster" thus a smaller but much faster "smokeless powder" bullet would have the same "impact" as a much larger slower "blackpowder" type of bullet ..modern bullets tend to have only 1 gas seal ring with "crimping type marks in the ring where its casing is mated around the bullet --with the civil war era muzzleloader type 3 ringers there was no"casing" --just powder topped off with a bullet rammed down the barrel ..

post civil until the late 1800 / 1900 era time --the cartridges were "black powder" about the turn off the century 1900 --modern "smokeless" gunpowder took over pushing "blackpowder" guns into the relic class of guns in general...
 

Last edited:

Carolina Tom

Gold Member
Apr 4, 2014
10,059
17,063
Charlotte
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus V3.2 9" & 11" Coils, AT Pro, ProPointer AT, Lesche 55, 75 & 80LT
Primary Interest:
Other
As usual Charlie is all over it. FMJs... full metal jacket with lead center. Modern pistol ammo.

If you get a set of calipers and measure them, you can tell the caliber... a 45 caliber is .45" diameter... 9mm is well... 9mm.

Some of the larger ones are jacketed rifle bullets... probably for deer hunting!

Best of luck to you!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top