✅ SOLVED bullet ID

[jobrian]

New bullet added to the collection! bullet diameter is .53". it is .87" tall. Don't know the weight. The VDI # was very different from other minie ball/old bullets that i have found. It jumped around 35-50 on the AT Pro. Is this a sharps carbine? Thanks for looking, Jobrian

 

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[fyrffytr1]

Is it lead? Looks like brass to me. Could it be a scabbard tip or tip to a flag staff?

 

[jobrian]

@fyrffytr1, I believe its lead. It chimes in mid to high 60's on the AT Pro (correction from earlier when i said 35-50). I'm still thinking bullet. Scabbard tip would be awesome though!

 

[BosnMate]

I'm not a Civil War bullet expert, but my swag is a one ring Gardner bullet.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is definitely a .50-caliber Maynard Carbine bullet. That breechloading rifle was manufactured by the Massachusetts Arms Company, of Chicopee Falls, MA. It was used by both sides in the civil war. (It was first produced in 1858, and many were sold to Southerners.) I should mention, the Wikipedia entry about it lists it as being Confederate rifle, but that it incorrect -- some Confederates used it, but it was yankee-made and used by more yankees than by Confederates. You can read more about it here: The Maynard Rifle & Carbine

Your .50 Maynard bullet is an unfired one, missing the brass casing it came in. I'd hunt the spot where you found it very carefully, because there ought to be some complete cartridges nearby... or at least, the casing your bullet came out of.

 

[jobrian]

AWESOME! Thanks Cannonball Guy. I appreciate the info. And I will definitely hit that spot slow and low. Jobrian

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Forgot to mention, since you're brand-new here, Welcome to TreasureNet. : ) Also, I figured I should show you what a .59 Maynard complete cartridge looks like -- because it's rather different from most bullet-casings. It is actually made of two pieces of brass... a long cylinder, with a separate thin brass disc soldered onto the cylinder's base. The thin disc is much wider than the casing's cylindrical body, and there is a tiny pinhole in the disc's center. Quite often, the disc is found by itself, having come loose from the cylindrical portion of the casing. Most relic-diggers do not recognize that disc for what it actually is. So if you find one, don't throw it away.

And therefore, of course, you may also find the cylindrical portion of the casing, missing the disc. Don't throw that away either -- it is NOT a lipstick-tube. ;-)