how long did it take to find your 1st civil war relic?

[pulltabfelix]

How long did it take you in an estimate of hours did it take you to find your first civil war bullet?

Or any other civil war relic?

I am using an Nox 800 and have adjusted my tone breaks to make bullets ring out loud and clear.

How much research do you do of areas near civil war battle fields?

I have done a lot of research and found some areas near the battle fields that I have permissions. I figure now it is just a matter of putting in the time and careful searching since I know I am hunting where some of the battles actually took place in 1864. I plan to devote my summer searching the easier places and in the fall and winter hunt the areas that are 1-2 feet high in weeds.

 

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[GameOfTones]

About 3 minutes.

Of course, that 3 minutes was because I spent countless hours reserching (weeks), driving around, walking thru the woods, taking pictures and then back for more research.

And then there was more research.

Once I was on site and set up, I hit a bullet within 3 minutes of sweeping. After that first one, I hit maybe a half dozen more that day after swinging for about 4 hours.

Same for my Confederate buckle. I knew the site. I already knew what the troop movement was on the site and within about 10 minutes of sweeping, I hit the buckle. The best part? When I saw what buckle it was, I knew my research was correct as it was a correct buckle for the divisions that were supposed to have been there. Nice feeling to see hours of research pay off.

Of course, you can spend 100s of hours researching a spot and still come up empty. Maybe it's been hit hard before. Maybe you are off in your research. Or maybe you just have to sweep more ground there.

But without research, you may never find much.
You gotta find where to start swinging before you go swinging.

And I still research the same sites I've worked already. Everytime I go back, I have learned a little more.

Without research? I think I've found a bullet or 2 before just by luck.

I'm taking the Nox 600 next week to a civil war battle site. Can't wait to see if it can find any CW goodies my AT Max may have missed. The Max smacks bullets hard.

 

[Tpmetal]

Never found one, i live in an area with no civil war history.

 

[Rookster]

48 hours or so. Found a pack rivit in my yard.

 

[GameOfTones]

I thought about this thread this morning before I started my hunt. It took 22 minutes to find this shot minie ball.
And then that was the only bullet found until I broke for lunch. Plenty of can slaw, though.
I honestly expected to find more than that since I am near a big battlefield. We shall see what the afternoon hunt holds.

 

[Ammoman]

I found my first and only CW relic when i was 18. I had been detecting for several years before i found it. I sold it on E-bay a couple years ago (much to my son's dismay) It helped pay for a new Detector.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Being in Northern Virginia near Manassas you would think it would be easy but trying to find a place that is not off limits tough. There is an battle site (has been completely built over with stores and apartments) just a few miles from my house. My first find was a dropped three ringer that I found in the yard of a home built in the 50's that I had permission to hunt. Completely unexpected, not sure how it got there, it is about 2 miles from the battle site, did some soldier on patrol drop it, or did some kid who lived in the house lose it? I keep hoping that one day my research will lead me to a place where I can find me some nice relics.

 

[nsdq]

About a minute or so laying in the dirt next to my porch steps a dragoon button

 

[GB1]

i did not find this.My uncle was out plowing his field when he got done he got off his tractor and saw something sticking out the dirt he picked it up and it was a union belt plate. He went and got his detector and found some more buttons. i have hit that field hard and found nothing weird huh?

 

[Slingshot]

I started picking up minnie balls off the ground when I was around 8 years old. They were so plentiful that some of the neighborhood kids re-used them as slingshot ammo. I grew up on the July 22nd Battle of Atlanta battlefield. Some of the older kids had buckles, buttons, breastplates, and other interesting CW relics. Then when they cut and graded for the I-20 expressway, and after a rain = WOW!

 

[A2coins]

Im still looking