Does anyone know what it could be

[freddy78]

My girlfriend found this at a known Union site and we are stumped. It's made of lead but to big to be a bullet. Has a hole through it but one side of the hole is bigger then the other. Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

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[wvwildman]

maybe part of a tamping rod

 

[got2dig]

Looks like iron to me.

 

[freddy78]

To soft to be iron

 

[got2dig]

It's hard to tell, but I have not seen much lead that looks like that. To me form the pic it dose look like iron. Is that a scratch on one of the holes? That may help to tell if it's lead.

 

[freddy78]

Yeah it has a few scratches around it. The season I say it's not iron is you can scratch it with your finger nail and it will flake off

 

[got2dig]

Iron will flake away by just a touch of your finger. Iron that has been in the ground for some time has a layer of crust or rust on it. Here is a few pics of a cannon ball frag, it has been out of the ground for some time now a most of the crust has fallen off. Hope this helps. I would like to know what you have it is old. Get a magnet and see if it picks it up.

 

[freddy78]

Here is another picture. You can see the shine of the lead after I scratched a little off which I know I shouldn't do

 

[got2dig]

It dose look like lead. It may take some time for the ID. I don't think it's a sinker the hole is to big. But that may be what it is. Just put it in some dirt and keep it moist, it will cover up the scratch in time no biggy there.

 

[civil_war22]

What about the idea of it coming from a minnow net or sein. It looks alot like the ones on a net i have

 

[Joseph Gilbert]

Did they use a very small mortar in the civil war? It kinda looks like a tiny version of an 8 in mortar that would have a wooden fuse but I haven't ever seen a tiny one like that.

 

[Dug1]

Weight for a minnow net