Strange Find?????

[ecastro111]

Hi Everyone,

Found my first large caliber bullet, a .50 caliber to be exact (photo below). This find is very strange to me and from the looks of it kind of old. Its strange because I found it in my backyard in a residential neighborhood Its been shot since you can see the rifling or grooves on it. If possible how can you tell how old it is from the patina? Any feed back is welcome

Thanks,
Ernie

 

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[RelicRick]

What's up 111?
Nice find! Myself and a few others have found over 500 of them on the replenished beaches of Delaware within the past 18 months. Ours look identical to yours. The ones we found were dated by a local detectorist and a bit of a historian as between WWI and WWII when boats would pull barges with targets on them for target practice off the coast. I hope this helps a little bit!

Happy hunting!

Goalrush

 

[ecastro111]

Hey Goalrush!,

Thanks for the information. I thought it looked old Back in the early forties there was a WWII camp next to the train station in town a few miles away.

Thanks,
Ernie

 

[Southern_Boy]

Cool thing to find in your backyard.

 

[JC dig's]

that sure is odd to find in your back yard. Thats what makes this hobby so interesting, you just never know whats under your feet.

 

[CRUSADER]

Most likely WWII, these were used on many aircraft as well, so could have dropped out of the sky. That's where the majority of the ones I find come from (UK).

 

[ecastro111]

Most likely WWII, these were used on many aircraft as well, so could have dropped out of the sky. That's where the majority of the ones I find come from (UK).

What did those look like Just curious.

Ernie

 

[mags]

It may of been bought and used as a paper wight or a conversation piece and then lost (cool find any way).........Mags

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Not too long ago I recall seeing an "accidental discharge" incident on the TV News that occurred over a neighborhood from a F-16 or F-18, I think in New Jersey. That was a 20mm!

Could have been something like that with yours. When my Dad was in ROTC at Cornell (Class of '35) they floated targets on Cayuga Lake and had at them with .50 M-2's and .30 BAR's. Wheeeee! Now you'd be taking out million dollar cottages. That, and can you imagine a college campus keeping automatic weapons now?

Also could have been a kid's "Show and Tell" item that never made it home.

 

[Mirage]

I have one of those in my desk drawer at work. I found mine at the White Sands Missle Range in New Mexico. They are cool. I can't imagine getting hit by one of those!

Bob

 

[CRUSADER]

Most likely WWII, these were used on many aircraft as well, so could have dropped out of the sky. That's where the majority of the ones I find come from (UK).

What did those look like Just curious.

Ernie

like these;

 

[ecastro111]

like these;
[/quote]

AWESOME!!!! Thank you very much for the pics. Now that's a collection! Do you think its possible for one to be an explosive round? Its the first thing that came to my mind when I first dug it out.

Thanks,
Ernie

 

[CRUSADER]

like these;

AWESOME!!!! Thank you very much for the pics. Now that's a collection! Do you think its possible for one to be an explosive round? Its the first thing that came to my mind when I first dug it out.

Thanks,
Ernie
[/quote]

I think the red tipped ones are HE rounds

 

[RevJoel]

There were more than a few different types of .50 BMG ammo made. They include:

Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, High Pressure Test, M1
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Blank, M1 (no bullet, crimped)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Incendiary, M1 (blue tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Tracer, M1 (red, maroon, or orange tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Blank, M1A1 (no bullet, crimped)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, M2
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Armor Piercing, M2 (black tip)
Cartridge, Dummy, Caliber .50, M2 (holes in case)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Armor Piercing Incendiary, M8 (aluminum tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Tracer M10 (red, maroon, or orange tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Tracer; M17 (red, maroon, or orange tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Armor Piercing Incendiary-Tracer, M20 (red ring/aluminum tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Incendiary, M23 (blue tip)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, M33
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Spotter-Tracer, M48A1
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Spotter-Tracer, M48A2
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Plastic Practice, M858
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Tracer, Plastic Practice, M860
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP), M903 (plastic sleeve on projectile)
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Saboted Light Armor Penetrator-Tracer (SLAP-T), M962
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, Practice, T249E2
Cartridge, Caliber .50, Ball, High Pressure Test, T251
Cartridge, Caliber .50: Armor Piercing Incendiary (API), MK 211 MOD 0

The most spectacular round used today is the .50 cal BMG Raufoss round.

This is an incendiary explosive round usually marked with the Raufoss headstamp and a white tip, althought the US Navy uses the tracer version of the round with a white over red or green tip. When this round strikes a solid target, there is an incendiary flash, a bang and a lot of white sparkles from the zirconium. Fun stuff!

 

[stringfrenzy]

A very interesting and cool find indeed. Good job.

 

[ecastro111]

When this round strikes a solid target, there is an incendiary flash, a bang and a lot of white sparkles from the zirconium. Fun stuff!

"Fun" until you put a trowl into it then "LIGHTS OUT" Thanks for the info. Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any painted color coding but who knows. It doesn't hurt to get rid of it or store it some where safe.

Ernie

 

[ecastro111]

Hi,

Just want to take the time to thank everyone for their comments

Ernie

 

[RevJoel]

I think the red tipped ones are HE rounds

Nope, the red, orange or maroon tip indicates a tracer round. The .50 cal BMG projectile is too small in diameter to have been realistically used as a High Explosive round until the past 10 years. If you have a red tip .50 projo with rifling marks on it; it is a real good bet that it is as safe as any lump of copper cover lead can be. The trace chemical is already burned out so 99.9999% of them are inert.

 

[ringfinder]

Hey nice find, I bet there was a Target range near where you live and that might have come from it. It would have been a WW II target range for probably airplanes.

Once at Myrtle Beach while hunting the beach, I found 5 Live 50 Cal. rounds. I called the beach patrol and they were very happy that I found them before some kid found them. I also found just the ends like you found. They get on the beach from replacing the sand that has been washed away from hurricanes. It is pumped onto the beach from out in the ocean. I've also found them on the beaches in Fla. also.

HH, Ringfinder

 

[extractor]

If found 2 , 50 cal"s last month ,prob from WWII airplane target pratice.