Civil War Boot Pistol and Artillery Canister Shot

[Dman]

We, Vol1266-X and I, went back to our old stand-by Union Camp for the 9th (one day last week) and 10th (today) time. We have found over 200 relics at this site and it still keeps producing. I found a Civil War boot pistol today, plus several pieces of artillery canister shot. I found a piece of rectangular canister shot, which is unusual. I found a couple of fired .58 caliber bullets and one nice dropped .69 caliber bullet. I found parts off a sword hanger, and some other odds and end pieces. The boot pistol was found at about 6 inches deep and produced a strong iron signal. Can someone tell me the best way to clean up the pistol? Thanks for looking.
Dman

 

[seger98]

wow, nice finds!

 

[DD-777]

WOW WOW WOW !!! That boot pistol is fantastic D - on top of an already great haul as well! Hopefully someone will chime in with a safe way to clean that little gem. I'd say banner on that one buddy - congrats...

 

[silverfreak]

WOW....very sweet digs D. Congrats on those.

 

[EddieR]

Geez! Awesome!!!

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Nice finds! Not much left of the pistol unfortunately but I would try electrolysis. HH, Mike

 

[Trond]

Interesting find, hope you manage to clean the weapon.

 

[Harry_Morant]

A fantastic group of finds - well done!

 

[lovedigging]

Great finds, Look forward to seeing what else you post from that site

 

[crazyjarhead]

You "D" man , Dman Nice CW finds. Too bad that boot pistol wasn't so corroded

 

[allen]

way to go on those nice finds...

 

[johnreb1980]

Nice finds D.

 

[jpitt1970]

An old trick I have used is to keep all of the old mason jar lids that I dug. They are made of zinc...put any iron relics in a plastic bowl covered just over the top w/ water, cut up the zinc lids into small pieces 7 then pour in a can of lye (sodium hydroxide) & leave it for a few days..it works great on canister shot & cannon balls. It remove most of the rust from the surface.

 

[civilman1]

Nice finds! Not much left of the pistol unfortunately but I would try electrolysis. HH, Mike

that's about the only way to try and get something out of it D....Not much else you can do with it.Beautiful Dig's you all came up with.thank's for sharing Bud!!!

 

[Nana40]

Fantastic finds, D! Looks like that spot's gonna keep you two busy for a while! Post us a pic of that pistol after you clean it up!

Nana

 

[Woodland Detectors]

great finds Dmann!!!!! I just cleaned mine by soaking it in olive oil for about 3 weeks. I do not have electrolysis yet so it works for me!

 

[SilverDreams]

Very cool finds. I love the pistol!

 

[VOL1266-X]

Boy, I hope it's still not loaded when you throw the 440 volts to it !! Great find.

 

[Dman]

Boy, I hope it's still not loaded when you throw the 440 volts to it !! Great find.

I want you to hold the pistol in the water when I turn on the 440 volts. That way if there is a problem you can pull it out.

 

[kdismuke1]

SUPER FINDS. LIKE THE PISTOL. AND CW FINDS.