Big bullet... ID needed!

[tuatara]

G'day all,

Well, I guess that this large bullet was not used to hunt hares... not even 'roos! The bullet appears to have 3 rings and is filled with another metal (?)... Bullet Gurus, can you please put a name and date to my bullet The site dates back to 1840's, however, the majority of activity took place in the 1900's.

 

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[IronSpike]

I would guess 1860's. Looks very similar to CW era bullets.

 

[Iron Patch]

Looks like it has an iron core. We dig em here once in a while, but are enfields, not ringed bullets. Someone should be able to tell you exactly what it is. Cool find.

 

[vayank54]

There was an Enfield-Snider bullet that had 3 rings and a ceramic plug in the base. But I don't know much about them. I think they were late 1800's though

 

[Iron Patch]

Guess that coffee worked because I now disagree with my last posting thinking more about what the iron core enfield looked like. (It didn't even seem right when I wrote it) I think it is just a regular plug and a bit chewed up. Funny now that I think about it I have never seen any iron cores posted.

 

[IronSpike]

I've never seen an iron core bullet. My 1860's guess could be way off

 

[Monty]

How big is big? Could you give some measurements such as diameter, length or possibly weight? Is the fill in the base magnetic? Thanks. Monty

 

[tuatara]

How big is big? Could you give some measurements such as diameter, length or possibly weight? Is the fill in the base magnetic? Thanks. Monty

Hi Monty,

The bullet is roughly 2.7cm in length and 1.5cm in diameter. The fill is not magnetic and seems clay-like. I don't know about the weight and we don't have small scales at home. Hopefully this info will help with IDing.

 

[tuatara]

Does there appear to be a dimple or plug in the nose?

Hi Spooky,

I cannot see anything on the tip of its nose. Probably you will be able to . I attached a 'nosey' photo.

 

[Iron Patch]

I've never seen an iron core bullet. My 1860's guess could be way off

I'll add one of my ironcore enfields to the thread in a bit.

 

[rjw4law]

50cal enfield.

 

[tuatara]

Hi guys,

Thank u all for your opinions. Enfield or not, can u please date it.

 

[Monty]

1.5 cm is .60" or 60 caliber according to the conversion chart. We still do things in inches in the USA. We'll catch up to the rest of the world someday. A lot of our bolts and auto termnology is now expressed in mm and liters. I'm guessing it's a hollow based muzzle loading bullet. The filler may just be dirt? I don't know how precise your measurements are but there are a lot of .58 caliber muzzle loading rifles designed for hunting deer or large animals. Other than that I don't know. I have a .58 caliber muzzle loading percussion rifle that I have used to hunt deer here in the USA. I had some very similar .58 caliber lead bullets I used when I first got it in the 1970s. I killed one deer with it and now use it as a backup for my .50 Caliber muzzle loading rifle. Since I don't know the history of the place you found the bullet I would be hesitant to hazard a guess as to the date. Monty

 

[tuatara]

1.5 cm is .60" or 60 caliber according to the conversion chart. We still do things in inches in the USA. We'll catch up to the rest of the world someday. A lot of our bolts and auto termnology is now expressed in mm and liters. I'm guessing it's a hollow based muzzle loading bullet. The filler may just be dirt? I don't know how precise your measurements are but there are a lot of .58 caliber muzzle loading rifles designed for hunting deer or large animals. Other than that I don't know. I have a .58 caliber muzzle loading percussion rifle that I have used to hunt deer here in the USA. I had some very similar .58 caliber lead bullets I used when I first got it in the 1970s. I killed one deer with it and now use it as a backup for my .50 Caliber muzzle loading rifle. Since I don't know the history of the place you found the bullet I would be hesitant to hazard a guess as to the date. Monty

Hi Monty,

The place is old - the 1870 - 1880's +. But there is still some activity here. So modern finds are not excluded. However, it's an inner city suburb so I am not sure if hunters were allowed to shoot there even if some stray roo happened to turn up.

 

[EdleBrock]

The original Minie Ball had 4 grooves and an iron plug in the base...I just learned this on TN this week...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minié_ball

Possible ?

 

[tuatara]

The original Minie Ball had 4 grooves and an iron plug in the base...I just learned this on TN this week...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minié_ball

Possible ?

Thank u, EdleBrock,

As I see it's possible but I don't understand much in them bullets.

 

[IronSpike]

I once detected a site in Denmark where we found similar to US CW era bullets. The large amounts of bullets we found did fit with time of war between Denmark and Sweden.

Any British bullets with iron core?

 

[CRUSADER]

Yeap, have lots with the red/brown clay insert

 

[IronSpike]

Yeap, have lots with the red/brown clay insert

So red/brown clay and not iron. Is there a date range for that type of bullets?

 

[CRUSADER]

Yeap, have lots with the red/brown clay insert

So red/brown clay and not iron. Is there a date range for that type of bullets?

1870-90s