California ghost town bullets?

[JVA5th]

Found what I think is some sort of 22 casing and what I hope is a mini ball not sure though I believe the town I found them in was established in 1865 I think

 

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[turtlefoot13]

My eyes are not good enough to make out the headstamp on the bullet casing. Is there any way that you can describe it?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[JVA5th]

It's got a stamp that looks like a diamond

 

[turtlefoot13]

With a diamond headstamp, it should be a Western brand shell. Let me do some digging to see if I have any dates for this one.

 

[turtlefoot13]

Okay, these are approximate dates, from one source, so take that with a grain of salt. It looks as though the diamond headstamp was put into use around 1910 and was still being used in the 1960's. It might have actually been in use later than that, but 1960's is what I could glean from the source that I have. Not a real tight range, but I hope it helps.

Doug

 

[JVA5th]

Thank you I really appreciate the help

 

[turtlefoot13]

Keep in mind one other thing. Western Cartridge Company also made ammunition for other companies, like Sears. You will see the diamond headstamp associated with other companies, but it was Western who manufactured them.

 

[BosnMate]

It appears that your cartridge case is a 22 short. They made .22 ammo in what was called "shorts, longs, and long rifle." Long rifle was the most powerful for a long time, but now there are even more modern .22's that are more powerful. There are/were lots of other .22 caliber bullets, but I'm thinking yours is a "short." Shorts were not popular, at least with the kids I hung out with, by the 40's and 50's although I believe they are still being made. They were about half the price of long rifles is the reason some people used them. I haven't seen any .22 shorts for sale for a long time, but I bought a couple of boxes of longs a few weeks back, but only because long rifle shells were not available.
Note the brass case on the short is shorter, but longs and long rifles only visibly differ on the weight of the bullet. All of this is to say my swag is your case dates back, not to 1865, but probably 70 or 80 years. I think the other bullet is a rifled slug, probably for a .410 shotgun. Have to have more info for positive ID.

 

[JVA5th]

Okay thanks everyone

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Well sounds like good id on the .22, the ball is not a Minie though as those had a modern bullet shape, it does look like a round (pistol)ball though.... I'm thinking though based solely on the penny comparison that it's buck shot. If you could find the least deformed diameter and measure it accurately in 100ths of an inch, and get a weight in grains we can tell you with reasonable certainty what it is.