Bullet?

[richm]

Is this a bullet and if so how old is it? Thanks..Rich.

 

[DigginThePast]

Looks like .45 ACP, lead with copper jacket. 1-100 years old.

 

[Monty]

I'm not seeing any grooves from the rifling of a gun, so I'm not so sure it is a bullet? Monty,

 

[fyrffytr1]

I'm not seeing any grooves from the rifling of a gun, so I'm not so sure it is a bullet? Monty,

Monty,
Not to dispute you but I do see faint grooves, especially in the first picture.

 

[l.cutler]

I agree, .45 APC. The grooves are there just faint.

 

[TiredIron]

That's "ACP"......(your finger slipped)
Yep.....45 ACP....like Diggin' said 1-100 years. Next year is the 100th Anniversary of Colt's 1911 Pistol.

 

[DigginThePast]

That's "ACP"......(your finger slipped)
Yep.....45 ACP....like Diggin' said 1-100 years. Next year is the 100th Anniversary of Colt's 1911 Pistol.

 

[l.cutler]

Yeah, ACP, I have fumble fingers syndrome!

 

[Old Town]

Browning's best design ever. (1911) The .45acp cartridge first appeared in 1905 for his earlier prototype pistols. Browning designed the cartridge too.

OT

 

[Old Town]

This is a jacketed bullet. Copper. It's even got the very shallow right hand rifling of the early Colt barrel. No more than .002 deep. Later guns after 1980 had deeper .0035 rifling depth. All Colt's were right hand twist. Browning insisted on this for purposes of gun torque helping to eject cases clear of the ejection port. Most modern revolvers are left hand twist. Like Smith and Wesson and Ruger. This is what the boys ID'd it as - a .45 acp bullet unless the measure is .355 or something like that.

OT

 

[Old Town]

weigh it.

Not a bad idea. The .45 started out at 230 and the .380 around 90 grains. Even mangled you should get an idea of what it is if diameter is not a positive known fact. But the right hand twist on the photo is a dead giveaway. Only Colt spins their bullet to the right.

OT

 

[Old Town]

Umm more guns than a colt .45 use(d) right hand twist.

Okay, but this is still a .45 acp and you know it.

 

[Old Town]

Could be a detonator for a plutonium bomb like we had last week.

 

[LizardsKeep]

I dunno about it being a bullet. Something just doesn’t look right. I don’t remember ever seeing an early .45 long colt having a jacket. They were all lead hard ball.

Look at the deformation. Have you ever seen a round deform like that after hitting something. Looks more like it was melted to me.

Don’t know for sure mind you, just thinking out loud, but for my money I will have to vote that it isn’t a bullet.

 

[DigginThePast]

.45 ACP (Automatic Colt Production). Not .45 Colt or Long Colt if you insist.

I've seen all kinds of bullet deformities.

 

[Old Town]

Sheepwolf: Can't you see the shallow right hand rifling in the photo? The copper jacket? Bullets like this get struck by other bullets once they are in the backstop or ground or wherever the guy is shooting. Another old pumpkin ball comes along and mashes it just like in the photo. I've seen many jacketed and unjacketed bullets mashed by other shots just like this.

I'd bet your life on this being a mangled .45 acp bullet of 230 grains. LOL

OT

 

[LizardsKeep]

Yes, we need more information on the object in question. I have seen many deformation patterns also but none like this. It still looks to be melted to me because the area of deformity shows very little sign of mushrooming. Except for a small bulge, part of the bullet is just missing.

I can’t see the grooves either but didn’t want to admit my eyes aren’t what they use to be. lol

 

[Old Town]

Lizard: In the top photo you are seeing the bullet base on the left side. The nose to the right. The rifling is on the left half which is the bullet's bearing surface. Most .45 acp full metal jackets are open on the bottom. Not like a minie ball but open as in no copper. You have bare lead core showing. The rest of the bullet, the sides and the ogive, the very top nose, are copper jacket about .010 thick. Some are thinner and some are thicker by a bit. Newer FMJs are electro-plated too. Very thick copper plate on a lead core.

This bullet has a standard gilded jacket of copper. So this open back end is where (in this case) another slug has struck it from the rear. This ripped off the "struck" side gilded jacket and mashed the soft lead core like cookie dough. At high speed fun things happen. It, the second bullet, glanced off but removed some lead but spread the rest out like you see in the photo. The stronger copper jacket on the reverse, or non-stuck side only bulged a bit and stayed in fair shape. Good enough to see the rifling easily. One side looks very much like a bullet and the damaged side looks like smudged lead. This is what it is.

This is a common find on the shooting range. I'm more sure of this than I was on the earlier shot put episode. Turns out the shot put was the detonator to a plutonium bomb, but what the hell, I was pretty close. LOL

OT

 

[DigginThePast]

"Now to sit there and declare that object a .45 ACP 230 grainer with copper jacket unequivocally from those pictures, in your chair?"

Yes, you are welcome.

 

[LizardsKeep]

All three arguments seem to be leaking a little water at the moment. I think I will wait and see if we get any more info. before I place my bet. I will do a little research later tonight though it I have time.