Confederate Whitworth Bullet

[Jpro]

A fairly rare bullet to find. Took me 20+ years. Knew exactly what it was when I pulled the plug away and saw it in the hole. It's a .45 cal (fired) and 1.25ish" in length. I believe the whitworth rifle has a range of over 1000 yards. Some Confederate sharpshooter taking aim at some Federal trooper for sure based on the location I was in. Wonder if it hit its mark

 

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[DigIron2]

Now that's a slug! congratulations.I think fairly rare is a understatement.That bullet is 'rare'.Nice!

 

[mirage83]

Very uncommon round, excellent find. I'm trying to narrow down a rifle pit near my house that would definitely have required some long-range marksmanship to hit the Union lines, so maybe with a little luck (okay, lots and lots of luck) I can match your find.

 

[d2]

That is a great find! Take a magnifying glass and look at the receiving end of the bullet. It may show some material impressions on it. I have fired pistol balls that show material impressions but that was from the patch. So if it was on the pistol ball it may be on the business end of the bullet...d2

 

[Tnmountains]

Lots of history in that one bullet. We have an area here where they set up and dropped the mules and men from across the Tennessee river with Whitworths. Caused log jams for days. That bullet deserves a case of its own.You can see the hexagonal twist from the barrel!

 

[Mike N Tn.]

Congratulations on a Super Rare Bullet!

 

[sorahc]

Nice! I've been hunting for years and I have not found one of those. Now you have to find the buttons from the shooter!

 

[VOL1266-X]

A rare puppy for sure Johnny. I have not dug one but the general area you hunt had some Rebels who could sure fire that bullet in 1864. Congrats, Q.

 

[sandchip]

That is so cool. And all this time, I thought H&K pioneered polygonal rifling. Done larnt somethin' new.

 

[Jpro]

Nice! I've been hunting for years and I have not found one of those. Now you have to find the buttons from the shooter!

I found the buttons first.. LoL

 

[UnderMiner]

Look at the twist pattern on that thing! Very cool. That's a great piece of both Civil War history and the history of gun technology.

 

[DigIron2]

A rare puppy for sure Johnny. I have not dug one but the general area you hunt had some Rebels who could sure fire that bullet in 1864. Congrats, Q.

don't know if you are familiar with the battle of Spotsylvania .But there was a confederate sniper that plucked off , i think it was a union officer from about 2 miles from a tree top with a whitworth.It is in the history books.From what I remember reading the union army knew they where getting fired on from a sniper.The officer said that reb couldn't hit the brawed side of a elephants a.ss ,and by the time he finished that sentence that was the end for him.

 

[parsonwalker]

Agree with DigIron. Whoa Jack! "Fairly rare" That's a bucket list item I realistically NEVER expect to maneuver under my coil.

 

[metalev4]

A tough one to dig for sure, excellent history.

 

[Rivers rat]

Just read an article about the rifle on wikipedia and mention the story of the battle.....good lord thats a very powerful rifle


RR