Bullet ID please

[Randy769]

Found last night on a hillside , Doesn't look like the rest that Ive been pulling in...base 1/2 inch

 

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[HomeGuardDan]

Looks like a fired CW era three ringer. I would hunt more where it came from, should be more.

 

[BosnMate]

Pretty badly damaged, but the hollow base sure suggests Civil War era. However those bullets are still being cast and fired
today, (not by a lot of people, but I have) so because of dirt the patina can't be seen, and damage shown in your photo, I
guess it depends on what other stuff you are finding with it, at least it would for me. Perhaps CannonballGuy will have an answer for you.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Pretty badly damaged, but the hollow base sure suggests Civil War era. However those bullets are still being cast and fired
today, (not by a lot of people, but I have) so because of dirt the patina can't be seen, and damage shown in your photo, I
guess it depends on what other stuff you are finding with it, at least it would for me. Perhaps CannonballGuy will have an answer for you.

This is indeed a civil war era three ringer. Without the measurements it is impossible to tell what kind exactly, but the oxidation and the mold (rings) are different from modern (most) styles. Could it be a modern replica - perhaps, but the oxidation and style lead to almost a 100% certainty that it is a civil war era bullet - now could it have been fired after the war - that is another topic

Dan

 

[markp]

If your hunting an area with Civil War activity, I would say it's a three ringer. If it were cleaned and I saw white patina I would say yes, with CW activity in area.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Randy769, here's friendly-minded tip for you about getting an excavated ("dug") bullet correctly identified and time-dated. Please use a toothbrush and water to clean as much of the dirt-encrustation as possible off the bullet's body before you make photos and post them. We ID-helpers need to be able to see if the bullet has any body-grooves (which most diggers call "rings"), and how many grooves it has. Also, we need well-focused CLOSEUP photos, to see what the shape of the grooves is. For example, there are V-shaped grooves, U-shaped, flat-bottomed, and "reeded" grooves. The photo below shows a bullet with a "reeded" groove... meaning, it has multiple tiny parallel ridges in the groove. That is important for time-dating a bullet, because "reeded" grooves were not used on bullets until the very-late 1870s, and are still being used on bullets today. My point is, a "reeded" groove on a bullet means it cannot be from the civil war.

I'm not saying your bullet is from after the civil war. (I think it is indeed a civil war "Minie-ball.") I'm just explaining why we need to see closeup photos of a bullet after all the dirt-encrustation has been cleaned off, in order to be able to ID and time-date it correctly.

 

[Old Dude]

If your hunting an area with Civil War activity, I would say it's a three ringer. If it were cleaned and I saw white patina I would say yes, with CW activity in area.

On second look, it does appear to have some nice white patina poking through the dirt in places.


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