Bullet ID

[Valley Ranger]

Can anyone help me ID this bullet? Found near a battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley. Base is solid. It's an inch long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Thanks for any help.

 

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[traderoftreasures]

i would guess a sharps

 

[timekiller]

i would guess a sharps

Agreed unlisted sharps.
Take Care,
Pete,

Description Nice dug unlisted Sharps .54 caliber bullet. Measures .534 diameter and .888 length with number 13 base. Dug Perryville Battlefield (private property), Kentucky.

 

[traderoftreasures]

Oh...... and welcome to the t'net.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the info and the welcome.

 

[relichunters]

Yep it's a sharps, I have a few like it

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Because there are so many varieties of Sharps bullets, I'll give you your specimen's specific ID.

At almost "an inch long" (as you say) ...if it is .95-to-.98" long, it is a Long-model "Commercial" Sharps bullet, made for the .52-caliber Sharps Rifle/Carbine. It is called the "commercial" Sharps bullet because it was put on the market for civilian use, rather than for the army. (That is why we civil war relic-hunters dig significantly fewer of this type than the types sold to the US Army in vast quantities. The "commercial" version is distinguished by not having a raised ring around its base.

There is also a Short-model (.89-to-.90") Sharps Commercial .52 bullet ...as shown in the photo posted by Timekiller. To determine for certain which one you found, check its length with some digital calipers. (Every bullet-digger & collector should own such calipers -- which now sell for less than $20. If you don't, please check Ebay or your local Harbor Freight Tools store or Home Depot. Heck, WalMart might even have them nowadays.

 

[Valley Ranger]

Because there are so many varieties of Sharps bullets, I'll give you your specimen's specific ID.

At almost "an inch long" (as you say) ...if it is .95-to-.98" long, it is a Long-model "Commercial" Sharps bullet, made for the .52-caliber Sharps Rifle/Carbine. It is called the "commercial" Sharps bullet because it was put on the market for civilian use, rather than for the army. (That is why we civil war relic-hunters dig significantly fewer of this type than the types sold to the US Army in vast quatities. The "commercial" version is distinguished by not having a raised ring around its base.

There is also a Short-model (.89-to-.90") Sharps Commercial .52 bullet ...as shown in the photo posted by Timekiller. To determine for certain which one you found, check its length with some digital calipers. (Every bullet-digger & collector should own such calipers -- which now sell for less than $20. If you don't, please check Ebay or your local Harbor Freight Tools store or Home Depot. Heck, WalMart might even have them nowadays.

Thank you very much. Yes, I know, I do need a set of calipers. My diggin' buddy has a set and measured my last one for me - a CD Leet. Anyway, I'll measure this one w/calipers and post back here what I find. So are you saying the commercial version is more "valuable?" Sorry to sound so ignorant. I've been a CW buff since I was a kid but only started detecting and relic hunting last year.

Thanks again.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Ranger Rick wrote:
> So are you saying the commercial version is more "valuable?"

Yes... but not by very much. Some civil war bullet dealers list them for a couple of bucks more than the most common type of Sharps.

Sometimes it seems like there were fully half-a-million yankee cavalrymen -- and most of them were carrying a Sharps Carbine & Sharps bullets. ;-) To get even the extra couple of bucks, ya gotta find a collector who wants to own an example of each of the four "major" variations of the largest-caliber Sharps bullets (listed from most-common to rarest, those four are: the "standard," the Commercial, the Ringtail, and the Multi-Groove).

 

[Valley Ranger]

Ranger Rick wrote:
> So are you saying the commercial version is more "valuable?"

"Yes... but not by very much. Some civil war bullet dealers list them for a couple of bucks more than the most common type of Sharps."

Thanks again!