Buckle old or new? Shotgun slug?

[ezman604]

Last week I made my maiden voyage out to swing my new Minelab X-Terra 705. I had 23 acres of undeveloped farm land to sweep. I set the machine for coin hunting and program 1. That sets it to blank out lead targets. But since I dig history, I had the threshold set loud enough to hear a blanked target. Then I switch to AM mode and pinpoint to locate and dig. Here are a couple of items I found that I'm curious about.
The first gave me a TID of between 36-40. It was only 1-2" deep at the base of a sapling.



My guess is it's a shotgun slug that most definitely hit a hard object. Just my guess though.





As I swept along, I had a blanked signal. Switching to AM mode and pinpoint, I got a display of -6 about 6" deep. I dug this buckle. I let it soak in water and brushed it to try and reveal any markings but it was still too crusty for me. I have no idea if this is old or recent manufacture.



If anyone has a better knowledge than me of buckle designs, I could use some help identifying it.





I received a lot of blanked targets in this field and several were registering 8" or deeper. I marked the spots with wire flags and will return to dig them when weather cooperates.
Any thoughts or help in identifying the items and vintage would be greatly appreciated. I hope to get back and sweep more very soon and post what I have unearthed.
Until then...
SAFE & Happy Detecting!!!!
Dave

 

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[Tedyoh]

It could be a slug......the size looks about right but normally you do not find that much material blown off the front of them, unless the impact was at close range.....the velocity just isn't there with shotgun slugs....back in the day anyways, the newer sabots do have some giddee-up though, yours looks to old though

 

[Breezie]

Your buckle looks like it was used on horse/mule tack.


Breezie

 

[ezman604]

Thanks Tedyoh and Breezie. I did get another blanked (lead) reading within 1 foot of the buckle that registered 10" or deeper. It's one of the spots I flagged to dig later. Hopefully at the bottom of that dig will be another piece of the puzzle.
I'm scratching me head though as to why the slug registered in the silver or clad range instead of lead. Or am I wrong in thinking slugs were made of lead?

 

[Tedyoh]

All older shotgun slugs...guessing from about 1985 and earlier, as far as I know, were made of lead. Then Remington and other ammo manufacturers started making sabot slugs which could be solid copper or copper plated lead. I've never used a Minlab but my Garrett 350 and ATP will sometimes ring up big hunk of lead like this in the silver and or coin range. Also with Garrett sometimes the shape of the object....in this case, if the slug was facing down, will give a "false" signal....my Pro would read this object as a quarter not a hunk of lead. The shape overrides the conductivity of the metal for some reason. Ive had this issue with steel washers as well. Maybe this is the case with Minlab and other brands as well.

 

[JOHUNT]

Definitely is a rifled shotgun slug. I've had them look more mangled than that just from punching through soft tissue of a deer. The energy behind that chunk of lead is more than you'd think!

 

[Tedyoh]

I agree Jo....tons of muzzle engery....literally. .....but I've had them look like they were not even fired or hit anything under the hide on the opposite side of the deers shoulder at 50 or 60 yards.....

 

[ezman604]

Yeah, really thought it was a slug when I saw it. Didn't expect it to be in that good of condition though. And what threw me was the reading of silver on the 705. Makes sense though. The same day I was sweeping my brothers yard next to his shop. I got a STRONG hit at a TID of 42. Scratched the surface and pulled up a big chunk of slag. It LOOKED silver and thought at first it might have been someone's coin stash that was melted in a fire or something. But no such luck, think it's just welding residue. The previous property owner did a lot of welding.