Civil war bullet stash that I forgot I had!

flatbutton · Jan 29, 2014

Couldn't go to work today due to the snow and ice we got last night.Got bored and went out to the garage.Started going through some old boxes and found these.I knew I had them, but couldn't remember where they were.There was also a jar of flat buttons in there.I really need to go through these and pick out the oddball stuff! Anyways, It sure brought back good memories!

I guess I need look through,and research some of these as I have no idea what the one with the rounded rings and the fins in the base is! Maybe you guys can help!

caleaich · Jan 29, 2014

The Minie balls, similar to yours, had hollow bases to allow the powder gasses to expand the bullet sidewalls into the rifling grooves. In that hollow base, there could be several items cast into the bullet, including a number, a plain hollow with no marking, or a star... which would be similar to what you have. I'm not sure those are fins, but certainly could be a 4 pointed star molded into the hollow. The cast rings on the exterior facilitated the bullets' "GRIP" in the rifling. Those grooves were also used to capture grease... similar to cast lead bullets today that use wax as a lubricant. The 3 ring is probably one of the most common, used by both North and South. There is a similar with only 2 rings, which is called a Gardner, used by the South to a great extent.

vpnavy · Jan 29, 2014

Pointman · Jan 29, 2014

You would need to get a diameter on the bullet to be precise. There is a .577 caliber US bullet that looks similar, called a Swaged-5. Depends on the diameter and how many points on the star. Weight would help also.

flatbutton · Jan 29, 2014

Dang man, you made me go try and find it again! :laughing7:

It measured out at .580 weight was 492.4 grs. on my RCBS 505 scale ( part of the skirt is missing on the bullet) I've got a couple with stars cast in the base, but this one appears to have actual raised fins. At least 4 maybe 5 . Oh yeah, while I was digging through that one container I found this Gardner with really deep rifling,and also appears to have had another round loaded on top of it before it was fired.

Pointman · Jan 29, 2014

The specs on the bullet I think it may be as follows:

DIA. .568, Length: 1.080, WGT: 531

.577 caliber and it is a five point star US Cartridge.

Most definitely it is a .577 caliber, but it could be .58 caliber. My specs show 4 different ones with the 5 point star. The .58 caliber has a length of 1.124 and a weight of 553

All of them show weights of over 500 grains.

Tnmountains · Jan 29, 2014

That Gardner with the ram rod marks is often like that on the base. It looks like the base is two pieces but think it was poured that way. I have a few just like it.

flatbutton · Jan 29, 2014

Pointman said:
The specs on the bullet I think it may be as follows:

DIA. .568, Length: 1.080, WGT: 531

.577 caliber and it is a five point star US Cartridge.

Most definitely it is a .577 caliber, but it could be .58 caliber. My specs show 4 different ones with the 5 point star. The .58 caliber has a length of 1.124 and a weight of 553

All of them show weights of over 500 grains.

Sorry Pointman, I forgot to mic the length. I had to get the heck out of the garage. It was just too dang cold! Anyways,thanks for the info. ***mr.b