Big Ol Pile of Civil War Lead & Brass Broke My Record Today in the Mississippi Woods.

[bonepicker]

Big Ol Pile of Civil War Lead & Brass Broke My Record Today in the Mississippi Woods.

Got out for a Civil War hunt today in the Mississippi woods with a good Relic Hunting Buddy of mine and we hit pay-dirt.
My last few hunts have been slow and I haven't found anything worth posting recently, so I was wayyyyyy past due for a good hunt.
Hunted a hillside near the water and broke my record with 32 confirmed Fired Minnie Balls. Was sure hoping for one drop, normally that's about all I find, but not at this site.
If only these bullets could talk, I wish I knew the story as I had lots of ideas running through my mind today. Fired in the dirt or a skirmish......
Also found 2 Bullets inside of a large piece of lighter Knot and 2 more bullets in smaller pieces of wood (didn't count these in my total). Kinda want to know for sure if they are minnies, but I hate to destroy the pieces of wood as I think its pretty cool finding bullets lodged in wood.
I don't know much about Minnie balls, but I was told some confederate items were found in this area and there was supposed to be a confederate camp in the area.
These Minnie balls had 3-rings, but the rings were UNUSUALLY LARGE compared to the ones I have found in yankee emcampments in the past. Was wondering if these might be confederate.
I enclosed a couple photos of one dropped Minnie I found in the past, beside the minnies I found today for camparison purposes.. Please advise.
Also found some unusual pieces of brass and was wondering if anyone could help with ID on them. At first I thought these were modern bullet jackets, but now I don't know.
And found a lot of smaller caliber bullets as well, but who knows. Most of them don't have the patina the Minnie balls have, but if someone can id any of them it would be most appreciated.
Maybe this embankment was the local firing range for years....
All in all it was a great day and I cant wait to go back, sweated my butt off, but it was well worth it.
Really hopeing these are confederate, because all the Minnie balls ive found along with the buttons have been damn yankee....
This Relic hunting has been more fun than the coinshooting... lol. Im already planning my next trip to this site......

 

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[Davers]

Thanks for taking the time to reply davers. Don't have a lot of time now, so id like to thank all others as well.
I know what you mean about those caps. The first piece of brass I found looked like a large percussion cap, until I found a few more and realized what they were.
There are no rocks or boulders down here in southern miss. Mostly sandy soil. Maybe a little river gravel, but none on this hillsite.
They all look the same size same rings, with the exception of one or 2, and even those look similar.
Im not going to mess with the ones in the wood as I think that adds character and is definitely more rare to find.
I don't have access to American diggers Mag.
Guess im just gona have to get back in there this weekend and work that site and see what turns up as others have already stated.
I know there are CW items in that area, but just maybe not on the hillside I was working the other day.
As much as I hate to say it im starting to think that those larger 3-ringers might be more modern.
I put up a photo on another site my buddy suggested and I had 3 comments. 1 yes, 1 maybe, and 1 I don't think so.
Here is what the I don't think so said, and notice mine look similar to the ones in the photo.

They look like a modern version of the .58 cal minie. I shoot .575 "old style" which are more like the CW minies.

The bullets in the picture are the modern cast minies. The rings with them "both" were removed from the breach of a repro musket prior to being used for reenactments. They are the skirts of bullets that broke off due to poor casting and remained in the breach of the gun. That is why you should never use the same barrel live firing and doing reenactments unless you really know how to check the breach for these rings.

So as much as id love them to be period, im really started to have my doubts.
If nothing else this thread will be a great learning experience for me and many others. And as Vino suggested, I definitely know what lead sounds like on the XP.

Hey man .Over the years I had to Id stuff (CW) I dug from old WE treasure Mags ,North South Trader , & American Digger .
Also Bought Book's .The main one Francis Lords CW Encyclopedia Vol 3,4,5 That helped me a-lot.
Went to the Library & Borrowed Book & Mags From Friends.
May times I thought I had a Good CW bullet or relic. Then found out I was wrong.
Other times Things I dug were CW & I did not even Know it.
Keep everything until your sure. Too many stories of Guy digging Fuses , Primers ,Etc & not knowing what they were left them in the Hole or threw them away. Then later found out what they were.

Sounds like you got the Relic Bug real Bad & The more U hunt the more you will find .
CW relics are Very Hard to find Consistently these Day's Esp Outside Virginia, & Their Getting Scarce There.

When I go Out If I find 1 fired bullet or Round Ball 32 cal even it's a Great Day , If I find a GS Button It's a REAL GOOD Day.
So hunt wherever You Can Even the "Hunted Out areas " I Hear that Duce will do you Right. & IMO Def, Out Do most machines from 10-15 years ago.
P.s. You will likely find relics where you least expect it. So try to dig Carefully.
I have a Feeling you will do well in the future.

Oh that article I talked about in AD Mag, A guy was asking about if Bullets that looked A-lot like yours were CW & the answer were " Made by A Mold Mfg,by the Ideal Tool, in the late 1800's. Then around 1925 Lyman Co, Started making them, ( Molds).
The guy's Bullets Measured .577 , 1.1017 ,long, .42 =Cavity; 473 Grains & the Groves are .202 apart.
Also gives a Lyman Mold # (For his bullets) as #575213.
Maybe you can get a match & Know for Sure.

I think I said to you before I like to dig older type Cast Bullets & collect them right along with the CW ones.

Look forward to seeing some good Stuff in the Future.

Davers

 

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[Davers]

The difficulty we're having trying to determine whether or not these are Civil War bullets makes me wonder if a lot of those Civil War bullets on eBay are just modern day reenactment bullets...

Knowledge is Power , Folk will rip you off any way they can.
I rarely buy any CW relics.
I like to know within 5 miles of where a bullet / relic was dug & Proving that is a Pain.
I do win relics from my Club & some of those I would sometime sell of trade but only if I have to.
+ Unless your that guy who dug all those CSA plates in TN I think No- body is gonna get rich digging relics.
Gotta love History , Relics, & have a Good imagination .