Fantastic CW lead day

[IowaRelic]

Went back to where I’ve been finding some relics from a nearby battlesite. Got onto a union earthwork today and bullets were coming up all over with the T2SE. My digging buddy had a new simplex and grabbed a few also.
I had 5 3 ringers, 7 Selma arsenal, a chewed up minie ball and I’m not sure about the fired one with a base on it....

 

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[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Tnmountains]

Great patina. When I hunt the pines I get that color here. Nice hunt.

 

[NZ49er]

The fired bullet with the base is a .58 Williams Cleaner. There would have been a zinc washer between the base and the body of the bullet. The idea was that the zinc would ignite upon firing and burn on the way out of the barrel, cleaning it of black powder residue and prevent fouling. I belive these were issued 1 to every 10 rounds for Union troops.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Awesome hunt, congrats

 

[A2coins]

Sweet finds looks like some heavy fighting going on there

 

[Tnmountains]

There are several varieties of the Williams cleaner bullet. It was found out later in the war that they were useless in their original purpose and hundreds of thousands were then dumped in camps. You have to figure that every bullet was extra weight to be carried when on foot. Have always enjoyed digging those bullets as they have some really interesting history behind them.
Happy Hunting!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Great job, congrats!

 

[civilman1]

Nice Haul!! Are there any markings in the 3-ringers??