Minie ball and rifle ball...

[Swartzie]

Out in the woods this morning relic hunting. Been having really nice weather here in Ohio. This is the second rifle ball I found out there. The first one I found last summer. It is .52 caliber. I'll have to measure this one, but I'm sure it's the same. Just last weekend I found a ball mold in the same area. The mold looks to be about the right size for the two balls I have found. I just wonder who the heck brought their mold with them out hunting or was it just somebody traveling through the area and lost some stuff? Relic hunting is great when you find stuff. The minie ball really surprised me. I'm in east-central Ohio. A minie ball was the last thing I expected to dig up.

Thanks for looking.
-Swartzie

 

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[coin hunter]

Your two lead bullets are from 1700 0r 1800's It was common to carry powder, molds and small lead bars while traveling hunting or chasing Indians. Sometimes you will find overflow from the lead molds and see where they broke off the round Minni balls. If it was a camp site you may even find some old coins. Sometimes if you find two or three round Minni balls in the same area you may have a pouch drop,look for flint. they needed to carry extra flint to. Remember they didn't have sporting stores back then or gun shops. Good Hunting

 

[dick99344]

Your two lead bullets are from 1700 0r 1800's It was common to carry powder, molds and small lead bars while traveling hunting or chasing Indians. Sometimes you will find overflow from the lead molds and see where they broke off the round Minni balls. If it was a camp site you may even find some old coins. Sometimes if you find two or three round Minni balls in the same area you may have a pouch drop,look for flint. they needed to carry extra flint to. Remember they didn't have sporting stores back then or gun shops. Good Hunting

Good reply. a single long hunter or a small group of hunters would carry a loading block made of a thin board bored with holes that they would press fit prepacthed and lubed round balls hung from their necks with a rawhide string. This would allow them to position the round ball over the muzzle of their rifle and use a short starter to start the round into the bore. (After powder charging of course) following up with the ram rod for final bullet seating. I use one that holds 10 rounds. They would also carry a number of round balls in a ball pouch on their belts next to their possibles bag. You are right, they had to go properly prepared, you could not stop at a local sporting goods store to buy supplies. Rendezvous came only once a year for the most part. HH

 

[JRich98150]

I hate to say this but they both look modern to me especially the three ringer. It looks like it was made using a contemporary lyman mold. I say this because of the ridges on the bullet. Of course I could be wrong but look at the other Civil War three and two ringers including the "dropped" ones they all have more rounded ridges. I had bought some "Civil War" bullets just like the one in your picture. They had let them lay in red clay which was still covering parts of the bullet. The old Civil War bullets would have a lead oxide on the outside and have a whiteish dusty look about them. But some of the old bullets that might have fallen into a stream especially if the stream has alot of sandy bottoms would get rolled about by the water that would keep them from forming oxidation on the outside and those would look like fresh dark lead.

JRich

 

[TomB]

Swartzie...you have been given some good information. In the pic I posted you can see the musket balls (.69cal) piece of flint, old key and coins recovered from a old home site in Virginia. The minnie ball you found looks like a .58 cal three ringer, the kind used by the Union army during the civil war. TomB

 

[TomB]

Sorry meant to post the pic with the flint. This one shows the flint. Also included a close up of the flint. Tom