3 bullets and ball

Srhoads

Jr. Member
Apr 26, 2012
71
31
Rantoul, IL
Detector(s) used
White's Coinmaster Pro
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Civil War? Musket ball? What type?

ForumRunner_20130920_015056.png



ForumRunner_20130920_015114.png
 

bullets.gif
Really can't answer your question (on ball) but nice bullets Srhoads. A member will jump in shortly with a "ball" ID.
 

Upvote 0
The problem with trying to put a hard date on a musket ball is that they are all just round lead balls. A precise measurement in 100ths of an inch will tell us what caliber it is, and possibly narrow down a date range, but even then it'll be a pretty wide range. The best way to date it is in context with other finds from the site where you dug it, but even that is unreliable. Having said that yours has a nice patina on it, which tells me it's not modern. Round ball fell out of favor around he time of the civil war, but was still used here and there after the war. So best guess without knowing the caliber is pre 1870......
 

Upvote 0
Until you measure the exact diameter of your bullets with a Digital Caliper (available on Ebay for $15), I cannot give you their 100%-certain ID. I can only tell you what the "appear" to be.

Apparently:
Bullet #1 looks like an 1850s-to-1860s .72-caliber 3-groove Minie-ball for a European rifle (but might be a .69 or .70 or .71-caliber).
Bullet #2 is either an 1866 First Alin-Conversion .58 Springfield Rifle bullet or a late-1860s .50-70 Springfield Rifle bullet.
Bullet #3 looks like an out-of-round (fired) musketball which coud be .69, .70, .71, or .72-caliber -- so, we'll need to to weigh it on a Jeweler's Scale and tell us its exact weight in grains (not grams).
Bullet #4 is definitely an 1870s US Army .45 Colt Revolver bullet.

As I indicated above, you can buy a precision-measuring Digital Caliper for about $15 on Ebay, or online at Harbor Freight Tools, or at Home Depot. I recommend you buy one because it is also useful for getting the correct ID of other relics besides bullets, such as coins, buttons, and buckles. The photo below shows how to measure a bullet's diameter with a Digital Caliper.
 

Attachments

  • bullet_unknown_diameter_TN_fyrffytr1_P1074954.jpg
    bullet_unknown_diameter_TN_fyrffytr1_P1074954.jpg
    114.2 KB · Views: 76
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top