Lead musket balls?

jmartins413

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I keep finding these at a local park and I think they are musket balls but I'm not too sure. I think they are made out of lead and I have found 2 sizes of them. They seem to be crude and primitive maybe homemade. My area of the state was settled in the 1600s but I dont know if they're anywhere near that old. I have found other signs that there maybe was a farm around.
Any information on identification or date range would be appreciated!


1525828585976.jpeg 1525828616969.jpeg
 

smokeythecat

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A few do look like split shot weights, but the others appear to be hand cast musket balls.
 

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jmartins413

jmartins413

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They do look like split fishing weights but im sure they are not.
They look split in the picture but I think it may be the seam marks.
 

dash4cash

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the small ones seem to small for musket balls, buck shot maybe, or like previously said fishing weights.

Carl

After looking at a bigger picture the weight thing is thrown out the window, I am sticking with buck shot lol.
 

Last edited:
Aug 20, 2009
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Maybe an attempt to make buck and ball.Whats the size of them,take a pic but toss a dime in to compare size.
 

Aug 20, 2009
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Another idea is when native Americans first got their hands on guns they did have their own gunsmiths, when the smith died he was buried with his tools.They could of been made from a crude sort of mold.The first colonists here,military,were stuck using matchlocks.Native Americans traded for the snaphaunce,the ancestor of the flintlock.Native Americans taught them warfare to the extreme,you couldn't snap shot with a match lock.
 

nwpa

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What size are they?
Could be shotgun pellets/buckshot.
You can see they are cast in a mould with the sprues and some did not pour with a cold mould.
 

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jmartins413

jmartins413

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Here is a size comparison. The big ones weigh around 9-10.5 grams. The small ones weigh around 2.5-3.5 grams.
1525950909792.jpeg
 

Aug 20, 2009
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The small ones could possibly be from a small bore rifle .31 or .32 caliber,basically a squirrel rifle.Either that's or it's buck and ball.Not many choices.
 

TwistedT

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split shots for fishing - you can buy the molds and make them yourself.
i do not think they have anything to do with a round ball.
 

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