Calling all bullet experts!

[Midden-marauder]

We were up in the foothills rock climbing today, we made our way up a rugged dry wash and came to a place where there were two caves and two pretty old looking fire pits. I only searched the lower fire pit and cave, spot checking these areas with my pinpointer, my search was rewarded. Withing the fire pit I located 3 objects, apparently made of copper and looking badly deformed and possibly slightly melted by the fire. Likewise I found what might be a bit of melted lead. These 3 objects are a notch mysterious but I think they're spent hollow points that may have been fired into the ground, around the base of each are a series of lengthwise grooves, the tips are strangely misshapen like they hit objects at an angle, not producing the classic mushroom effect one associates with fired hollow points. They're just a hairs width over 11 mm wide at the base and I'm hoping one of the bullet experts here could potentially tell me something about the caliber of bullets they might be if indeed my assumption about them is correct. I looked up at a tall boulder just off from where I found them and noted what appeared to be 5 tightly grouped pock marks in the stone definitely suggesting that someone was playing with a gun at one point. I didn't search around too much more but there may be bullet casings laying about near by, it's apparent that folks had camped in this spot (illegally) on more than one occasion. The broken trigger clasp and the other weird object were found in the lower cave and are pretty much trash. The look of the fire pit definitely pointed to it having been occupied briefly long ago, it's not recent.
If anyone can help me with the proposed hollow points in determining caliber that would be great, again, copper and just a bit over 11mm. There's many old camp sights hidden amongst the rocky hills here so I do keep my eyes open, some may be pretty damned old and ephemeral. I've actually located what I believe is a rusty sluice box embedded in the ground in one spot, old claims were filed there so it's no shock. Finding casings and spent rounds is definitely the more modern version of finding arrowheads lol

 

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[11KBP]

We were up in the foothills rock climbing today, we made our way up a rugged dry wash and came to a place where there were two caves and two pretty old looking fire pits. I only searched the lower fire pit and cave, spot checking these areas with my pinpointer, my search was rewarded. Withing the fire pit I located 3 objects, apparently made of copper and looking badly deformed and possibly slightly melted by the fire. Likewise I found what might be a bit of melted lead. These 3 objects are a notch mysterious but I think they're spent hollow points that may have been fired into the ground, around the base of each are a series of lengthwise grooves, the tips are strangely misshapen like they hit objects at an angle, not producing the classic mushroom effect one associates with fired hollow points. They're just a hairs width over 11 mm wide at the base and I'm hoping one of the bullet experts here could potentially tell me something about the caliber of bullets they might be if indeed my assumption about them is correct. I looked up at a tall boulder just off from where I found them and noted what appeared to be 5 tightly grouped pock marks in the stone definitely suggesting that someone was playing with a gun at one point. I didn't search around too much more but there may be bullet casings laying about near by, it's apparent that folks had camped in this spot (illegally) on more than one occasion. The broken trigger clasp and the other weird object were found in the lower cave and are pretty much trash. The look of the fire pit definitely pointed to it having been occupied briefly long ago, it's not recent.
If anyone can help me with the proposed hollow points in determining caliber that would be great, again, copper and just a bit over 11mm. There's many old camp sights hidden amongst the rocky hills here so I do keep my eyes open, some may be pretty damned old and ephemeral. I've actually located what I believe is a rusty sluice box embedded in the ground in one spot, old claims were filed there so it's no shock. Finding casings and spent rounds is definitely the more modern version of finding arrowheads lol

Modern jacketed bullets.

 

[l.cutler]

.45 ACP 1911 to the present.

 

[Midden-marauder]

.45 ACP 1911 to the present.

Nice, that's probably on point, I just needed confirmation that these actually are bullets at all. Someone probably fired these off some time back in the 80s or 70s from the few additional clues found, someone was nice enough to leave a spray paint inscription on the rocks at the site but no date, it just looked old and worn. It's funny to run up on a place like that without knowing it's there only to find some fun little clues.