A Few Whats-its and Two Bullets From Metal Detecting a Beach near Coast Guard Station

[kyle369]

I went to a public beach near a Coast Guard station 10 minutes down the road to metal detect there with my Garrett Ace 250 again...

I found 7 different lead fishing weights/sinkers, a modern quarter and a 1959 memorial penny, some trash, and the stuff pictured below

My dad believes these are contacts for some kind of machine:



I have no idea what this is; it seems like maybe shaped lead, stone or concrete around a thin magnetic metal rod. It's shaped like a trapezoid and weighs 10.7 ounces...



If you have any ideas how old or what bullet this broken casing was for, let me know:



This strange, nonmagnetic piece of metal starts off as a rectangle, then ends in a thick, rounded arc like a nail file. A spike maybe? Weighs a little over an ounce.


At first I thought this was simply another lead fishing weight, then I saw the extremely bullet-like butt. If it is a bullet, it's been partially flattened at the top from some impact. I estimate it to be an 8mm diameter lead bullet. Weighs 0.2 ounces.




I am dying to know what time period and/or what kind of gun this bitten-up 11mm copper-colored beauty belonged to! Weighs half an ounce.




Neither the bullet casing nor either of the two bullets are magnetic.

I hope you enjoy seeing all of this interesting stuff from the beach, and I appreciate your thoughts on this stuff, especially the bullets!

Happy hunting, Kyle

 

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[Icewing]

#1 I don't know
#2 Possibly a weight from a long line or net of some kind, but I don't know.
#3 Shotgun shell headstamp (Does it say No 12?)
#4 Muzzle loader bullet (unknown age and caliber)
#5 Modern full metal jacket bullet.

 

[kyle369]

#1 I don't know
#2 Possibly a weight from a long line or net of some kind, but I don't know.
#3 Shotgun shell headstamp (Does it say No 12?)
#4 Muzzle loader bullet (unknown age and caliber)
#5 Modern full metal jacket bullet.

Thanks for the info on the bullets and headstamp. No markings or markings long since disappeared on the shotgun shell headstamp. I estimated the muzzle loader bullet to be 5-6/16" which would make it about 8mm/.31-.32 caliber bullet. Would that give any clues that it is indeed lead or as to its age? Also, you seem to have missed the nonmagnetic piece of metal that superficially resembles a nail file (picture and description between shotgun shell headstamp and first bullet). Thanks for your help and happy hunting!

 

[Icewing]

Yes my bad, it looks like a broken ship spike. Is it brass?

 

[vhs07]

The lead looking thing with the steel rod is a Zinc anode

 

[kyle369]

The lead looking thing with the steel rod is a Zinc anode
View attachment 1501136

Very cool!

 

[kyle369]

Yes my bad, it looks like a broken ship spike. Is it brass?

Now that you mention it, that's very likely. It weighs just over an ounce, which seems heavy enough. It has plenty of green and rusty red spots over a primarily black/brown surface. It looks VERY similar to the broken brass ship nail that BigCypressGator posted pictures of in the Ships Brass Nail? thread from 2008. On that same thread it is stated by someone that brass/bronze ship's spikes were common from 1700 to 1900 for wooden boats. Would you say that's accurate?

Also, what's the likelihood that my spike is a railroad spike? Is there any definitive way to tell the difference?

 

[BosnMate]

The copper jacket bullet is probably from the .30 caliber M-1 Carbine.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Measuring at 11mm, your copper-jacketed bullet is a 20th Century .45-caliber Colt Automatic bullet, used in the famous .45 Colt Model-1911 but also in the .45 "Tommy Gun" and some other firearms.

Sorry, but there was no 8mm/.25-caliber muzzleloader bullet. Although most post-civil-war breechloader or cylinder-loading firearm bullets have a solid flat base, many versions do have base-cavity.

Your broken "centerfire" brass cartridge-casing's body (not the wide flat base) appears ti measure almost exactly 1/2-inch in diameter. So, most likely, it is either a small-gauge shotgun shell base, or a latter-1800s 50-caliber rifle cartridge, such as a .50-70 "Government" rifle cartridge.

 

[kyle369]

Measuring at 11mm, your copper-jacketed bullet is a 20th Century .45-caliber Colt Automatic bullet, used in the famous .45 Colt Model-1911 but also in the .45 "Tommy Gun" and some other firearms.

Sorry, but there was no 8mm/.25-caliber muzzleloader bullet. Although most post-civil-war breechloader or cylinder-loading firearm bullets have a solid flat base, many versions do have base-cavity.

Your broken "centerfire" brass cartridge-casing's body (not the wide flat base) appears ti measure almost exactly 1/2-inch in diameter. So, most likely, it is either a small-gauge shotgun shell base, or a latter-1800s 50-caliber rifle cartridge, such as a .50-70 "Government" rifle cartridge.

Thanks for the awesome info, especially on my 20th century bullet. So are you agreeing with Icewing that my deformed lead bullet with the base cavity is a muzzle loader? It is possible that that is a 9 or 10mm bullet that is slightly indented inwards; the lead rim surrounding the base cavity is by itself a millimeter thick. Without a discernible marking to tell the difference, what's the best way to tell whether my casing is a shotgun shell base or a latter 1800s 50-caliber rifle cartridge? Thanks again for the awesome info and happy hunting!

 

[Icewing]

what's the best way to tell whether my casing is a shotgun shell base or a latter 1800s 50-caliber rifle cartridge? Thanks again for the awesome info and happy hunting!

Here is some good info on how to identify and date shot shell headstamp and other ammunition casings

A Cartridge Collector's Glossary - International Ammunition Association

Heads

 

[kyle369]

Here is some good info on how to identify and date shot shell headstamp and other ammunition casings

A Cartridge Collector's Glossary - International Ammunition Association

Heads

Thanks! Did you see my response to you asking if my possible broken ship's spike is brass?

 

[Icewing]

Also, what's the likelihood that my spike is a railroad spike? Is there any definitive way to tell the difference?

First try a magnet, if it sticks it's iron or steel. If it doesn't it's a non-ferrous metal. You can then scratch it and see what color the base metal is. If it's yellow it's brass, red-orange is copper.

It might not be either a ship spike or rail spike. It could have been something else entirely, I just gave you my best first guess.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Agree with above that your lead bullet is not from a muzzleloader, and that the jacketed bullet is most likely from a .45 ACP.

Your 1/2" +/- diameter case head looks to be the remains of a .45 Long Colt or perhaps a .44-40. Measurements in thousands of an inch would help. Also possible it is the head of a .410 shotshell - but the primer looks wrong. A view down into the inside of the primer cup would help. But not really worth the effort. They would be contemporary to each other.

 

[kyle369]

First try a magnet, if it sticks it's iron or steel. If it doesn't it's a non-ferrous metal. You can then scratch it and see what color the base metal is. If it's yellow it's brass, red-orange is copper.

It might not be either a ship spike or rail spike. It could have been something else entirely, I just gave you my best first guess.

It is NOT magnetic. I just tried scratching it with a nail, and what I'm seeing after a few back and forth motions on the same spot is a silver gleam in the scratches when caught in the sunlight.