050821-Backyardfind

[wmas1960]

Went out in my back yard this afternoon to explore a couple hits that I had been getting on the detector. Thought, if I found something interesting it would justify a further search of the yard. Otherwise, the house, doesn't really have much history to be that excited about.

From my understanding of local history, this is what I know. The area was settled by imigrant farmers from Germany in the mid to late 1800s and was farmed through part of the 20s when the town was dissolved and annexed to a couple other neighboring towns. In the 1920s, the area was plotted out as a subdivision and the first homes around here were built. Our house wasn't built until around sometime around 1950. It is also possible that items that I find were brought in with landscape fill when the house was built or when our yard had been improved over the years. So, I guess you never know what you find or if there is any relevance to the actual location or not.

Anyway, here is what I found and I was hoping someone might give some insight or information about this bullet. What kind of gun would it have come from and how old it might be.

I found it between 2.5" and about 5". Note the dimple in the primer. Does that indicate that it was fired or anything? When I found it the slug was intact with the cartridge. There was a small hole in the side and the area where the shell or cartridge was crimped had been worn away some. I figure that is from decay or age. While washing it to read the base, it came apart.

The writing that I see appears to be an F and an A and the number 28. Any info would be appreciated.

 

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[g45_70]

That's a .45 ACP automatic colt pistol round you have there, the F A means Federal Ammunition and 28=1928 date of manufacture. It's military hard ball ammo for sure. HH Gene

 

[SugarSand]

I'm no expert, but I believe it's a military round made by Frankford Arsenal in 1928. ?Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/primers.htm

and others...

 

[wmas1960]

Thanks for the info so far. I should clarify that, while my last post went into some history, I didn't expect that it would be as old as I went back. The main details are that we have been here since about 1964 +/- and the house was built around the early to mid 50s. Then, that the subdivision was laid out in around the 1920s. So, 1928 might be interesting.

I used a bulb hole digger to expore these few targets. I plunged it down as deep as I could. Probably about 5 or 6". From the marks on the bullet, I must have hit it with the digger. There were some fresh scratches on it. Also, as I pulled apart the plug, I didn't find anything. So, I assume it fell out of the digger when I was removing the plug. Then, searching the area, I found the bullet on top of the ground. So, I would assume it came from the bottom of the plug, probably around 5", rather than right under the turf. To me, that might rule out it being brought in during landscaping and more possibly, something from back before the house was built.

 

[Monty]

I do believe sugarsand is right! JIM

 

[wmas1960]

Oh, something that I was wondering that hasn't been addressed yet. I am only familiar with .22 long rounds where there is a mark on the rim (Rim Fire) where the firing pin hit the round when fired. This round has what appears to be a dimple in the primer(?). Does that indicate that it had been fired, or attempted to be fired?

The confusing thing, to me, is that there is a dimple in the back end of the round but the slug (Bullet) was still in tact in the cartridge. Unless it was a souvenir item where a bullet was put back into a fired catrridge.

Just was wondering.

 

[Nana40]

wmas! What a great bullet!!!!!!

 

[junkdigger]

Most likely the cartridge was a misfire. The primer was well struck by the firing pin,and should have fired. Even in 1928 ammunition was very reliable.But if someone tried to fire it 50 years later,or after it had weathered badly,it could have failed to fire.I have fired maybe a few 100,000 rounds of many types of ammunition,both factory loaded,and hand loaded,and the only misfires happened in below zero temperatures (caused by thickened oil in the mechanism),or in really dirty .22's.

 

[JakePhelps]

Cool bullet, looks like its fired to me

 

[Monty]

I collect and shoot military bolt action rifles of the pre and post WWI era and some Mausers from WWII. I buy a lot of surplus ammo and it is not unusual to get a hangfire on occasion. When this happens, you keep the weapon pointed down range and wait a minute or two to see if it is going to go. If not, you usually try it a second time and if nothign goes bang, just eject it and discard it. That is probably a discarded round that failed to fire. JIM

 

[wmas1960]

To follow up on the posts so far, I first would like to thank all for replying.? It is still an odd find for this area.? Not like it is a .22 or something.? This being a .45 bullet.? ?I can say with some certainty that the bullet wasn't dropped since we lived here.? ?Further, it would seem odd that it would have been dropped, yet alone fired, since this house was buiilt.? Reason being is, since our house was built, this is a fairly densly developed area of 12,000 to 15,000 sqft (1/4 acre) lots.? ?Houses are of a size that there isn't a lot of side lot between homes.?

Before our house was built, there was a bit of wide open space with large houses scattered about that were built in the late 20s.? ?The house on one side of us was built in 1926.? There was then open space, about 50 yards,? that is now occupied by our house and another house, then 2 other houses that were built in about 1928.? From the looks of the other houses on our block, (bounded by 4 streets), there were maybe 2 other houses and the rest was wide open.? ?Developement started in the early to mid 20s then came to a stop during the depression.? Then began again after WWII.? ?So, I would have to say, if it was fired, or attempted to be fired, it would have had to be between 1928, when it was made, and 1950 when the neighborhood underwent a new round of development.? Incidentally, I would suspect that the bullet had to do with the house on the adjacent lot, built in 1926.? It was about 75 feet from that house.? ? ?

Something interesting about the area that had us thinking though.? It could be tall tales or wild imaginations but some of the history raised some interesting conspiracy theories, so to speak.? ? This area, prior to development, was largely farm or marsh land.? It was part of a community settled by German immigrants.? ?The main tax base for the community was a handful of taverns in the town that was surrounded by dry communities.? ? One of the farmers in the area was reputed to have been a brewer of beer that he sold to area taverns.? ?When Prohibition started, the town started to loose so much in revenue from the taverns that they couldn't pay bills.? They sold the Town Hall to pay debts and dissoved the city to be annexed into two other neighboring towns.? ? That is about when our neighborhood was subdivided and plotted out.? ?The farmer who was brewing his beer continued to produce his brew, despite Prohibition.? Then, sometime in about 1931, one of his customers was told not to buy beer from him anymore.? The farmer was also told not to sell his beer.? ?Being the tough buy that he was, he was reported to have refused the demand.? ?Then, one night, he was called to deliver some beer to a local tavern and was gunned down on the front? lawn of the tavern owners home.? ?

The locations of all the above events are well known and none of it took place here.? However, being only 3 to 5 miles away from the locations of this farmers farm, brewery, I assume, 2 taverns that he owned, (one was burned down before his death and the other closed right after), I just wonder if anything or anyone connected with the era might have been around here.? ?Perhaps one of the occupants of one of the original homes had something that they needed to be heavilly armed to protect.? ?Maybe someone had relationships with someone that was involved in all this activity.? ?Maybe someone stopped by a vacant open space while traveling though.? ?Part of the story here involves battles for terratorial control of the liquor businesses by Capone and Bugs Moran and other gangsters of the day.? ? ?

Personally, I tend to believe that the bullet was something lost by someone who had the bullet as a souvenir.? Perhaps a bullet matched to a spent shell as a keepsake....? Something that someone might have had from their times in the military.? However, the question exists, could the bullet have been correct for use in firearms of the day?? Say a Thompson or Tommy Gun.? ?Is it possible that, being that this bullet was produced at a federal armory, that a private citizen might have gotten their hands on some of this ammo?? Or, would it have been strictly military?

Incidentally, while looking at the bullet last night, the edges of the shell, where it was crimped around the bullet all crumbled in my fingers.? ?? It seemed very brittle.? Telling me that it was probably in the ground for quite some time.? ?Of course, 40+ years is a long time in itself.? Can't believe it has been that long.? ?I have now put all the pieces in a ziplock bag and don't intend to handle it anymore...

Thanks again, it is fun thinking of some of the possibilities.? ?

 

[g45_70]

Sugar Sand is right! I forgot about the Frankford plant ! Sorry bout that!! HH Gene

 

[Maggot]

sometimes you get a misfire, It's when the primer is struck and nothing happens. You leave the weapon pointed in a safe direction for 2 minutes (if nobody is shooting at you) and then discard it. When I go shooting it happens occasionally. I usually chuck them in the woods as far as I can.