CW Bullet???? My best find??? + More

[ModernMiner]

Alright, one of you Civil War buffs out there please tell me this is a CW bullet I found today.
If it is, I think it is my best find so far. It may not be much to some of you, but it sure made my day.
After work, I hit the old farm property I've been detecting at. After digging up another ton of old farm iron out front, I hit a nice open grassy area and did pretty well.
*The CW bullet (?) I found about 6" deep right up by an oak tree (pictured).
*I found a neat brass (?) button too that says "B & Burnham * Extra" on the back of it.
Does anyone know anything about this button?
*My third dog tag from this site. The one toady is from 1947 (Raleigh).
*A 1951 (D) Wheat penny.
*Two more old keys.
*A rifle shell with a letter "C" on the bottom. It is 1" long. Anyone know what this is exactly?
*A large round painted item that I will post in the "what is it" section. Looks to be pretty old too.
This farm is 146 acres, so I've been kind of bouncing from place to place so far. If someone confirms this to be a CW bullet, I will focus on the grassy area where I found it. I ran out of daylight, so I had to give up for today.
Thanks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-MM-

 

[Gribnitz]

three ringers are union & two ringers confederate......but threre are alot of other types.

Not true. 3 ringers, minie balls, minie, etc is just a term to describe that it is a bullet type, not a musket ball. The typical find is a .58 caliber, which was heavily used by the Union army, but the confederates used them as well. There are plenty of other types, .69 caliber 3 ringers, .69 caliber 2 ring muskatoons, bullets with no rings like the Enfields, Sharps bullets, Williams Cleaners, etc etc on and on. Just google civil war bullet and you will get all sorts of references to look at. The first one that comes up http://www.relicman.com/bullets.htm is a good place to compare to see what a lot of them look like.

 

[DANGLANGLEY]

Very nice finds. Your first CW bullet and button are real keepers....Congrats!!!

 

[Ant]

Sweet, I still need a bullet like that for my display. Great going.

 

[DiggerBug]

ModernMiner, I know just how you feel. I only recently found my first and only 3 ringer. Congrats!
I see more great finds for you at that spot in the near future. Keep diggin'!

 

[Jason in TN]

Very nice like the civil war stuff. There is a cavity in the base of that bullet. I clean mine with dish detergent and a soft tooth brush. If you clean the dirt out of the base it may have some sort of marking in it also star is one of the markings you may find. Good luck and get back there and tell us what you find.

 

[tsgman]

Nice find! I am going to add some relic sites for you to check out. They are all very good. Here are some different caliber CW bullets common around my neck of the woods. Tsgman

http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles.asp
http://www.missourirelics.com/MissouriRelics/home.asp
http://www.jsmosby.com/cgi-bin/display_Cat.asp?Cat=6
http://www.relicman.com/links.htm
http://www.saylerscreekrelics.com/
http://www.civilwaroutpost.com/dugrelics.htm
http://www.fortdonelsonrelics.com/
http://www.joshuasattic.com/museum/officers_chamber.asp
http://www.carha.org/

 

[ModernMiner]

Nice find! I am going to add some relic sites for you to check out. They are all very good. Here are some different caliber CW bullets common around my neck of the woods. Tsgman

http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles.asp
http://www.missourirelics.com/MissouriRelics/home.asp
http://www.jsmosby.com/cgi-bin/display_Cat.asp?Cat=6
http://www.relicman.com/links.htm
http://www.saylerscreekrelics.com/
http://www.civilwaroutpost.com/dugrelics.htm
http://www.fortdonelsonrelics.com/
http://www.joshuasattic.com/museum/officers_chamber.asp
http://www.carha.org/

TSGMAN,
Thanks a bunch for those sites you posted. That should keep me busy for awhile.
-MM-

 

[SCdigger]

Thanks for confirming that this is a CW bullet. Ya-hoooooo!!!
I ran all my finds through my rock tumbler with dishsoap & aquarium gravel for about an hour to clean them up. Hopefully, I didn't destroy the value of anything.
The soil I've been digging in is dark soft dirt, so it's been easy to recover the finds, unless I run into roots.
Thanks again. You can bet I'll be back at that spot soon.
-MM-

Yes, it's a civil war period .58 caliber bullet. Yes, you did decrease the value of it by tumbling it. The 1-piece button seems to have come out oK though. Can't treat CW relics like clad coins. Just a soft toothbrush and a little soap and water is all you need....if that much. Now, get back out there and dig some more...

SCdigger

 

[ModernMiner]

Thanks for confirming that this is a CW bullet. Ya-hoooooo!!!
I ran all my finds through my rock tumbler with dishsoap & aquarium gravel for about an hour to clean them up. Hopefully, I didn't destroy the value of anything.
The soil I've been digging in is dark soft dirt, so it's been easy to recover the finds, unless I run into roots.
Thanks again. You can bet I'll be back at that spot soon.
-MM-

Yes, it's a civil war period .58 caliber bullet. Yes, you did decrease the value of it by tumbling it. The 1-piece button seems to have come out oK though. Can't treat CW relics like clad coins. Just a soft toothbrush and a little soap and water is all you need....if that much. Now, get back out there and dig some more...

SCdigger

Thanks for the info.
To me this felt like a major find compared to anything I've found before. It was a bit of a bummer though to find out that these CW bullets can be bought for only a few bucks, and seem to be everywhere. I didn't feel so bad about cleaning it at that point.
I plan on giving the button and bullet to my brother as a birthday gift. He is a real CW nut.
I'll be careful with cleaning future finds though.
Thanks,
-MM-

 

[Montana Jim]

Yes, it's a civil war period .58 caliber bullet.
SCdigger

I like that you made the distinction "civil war period". The truth is every miniball (for example) is not from the civil war... but damned near all of them are from during the civil war period. Many were not fired in anger... and depending on where you live could have been mearly used for hunting or target. That is not intended to burst bubbles, just to remind folks that not every brass or lead item dug was from "the war" and not every musketshot happened during the revolutionary war.

Thanks for letting me rant.

And btw MM... I'm happier than S*%@ you found one! Because the truth is, I love diggin' bullets and every one makes my heart race! I hope you find many more!

 

[Ramapirate]

NICE!!! That is so cool, was it dug in N.C. or S.C.?

HH,
Ramapirate

 

[ModernMiner]

NICE!!! That is so cool, was it dug in N.C. or S.C.?

HH,
Ramapirate

Ram,
I dug it up in NC in the Wake Forest area. I'm hoping to find more once it warms up a bit.
-MM-

 

[UnknownBounty]

I absolutly love that button, great find!

 

[Ridley]

NICE!!! That is so cool, was it dug in N.C. or S.C.?

HH,
Ramapirate

Ram,
I dug it up in NC in the Wake Forest area. I'm hoping to find more once it warms up a bit.
-MM-

Modern Miner and I both live just 15 minutes away from the Battle of Morrisville. http://www.mindspring.com/~nixnox/

I've found 8 three ringers so far, just by accident.




Ridley

 

[ModernMiner]

I said it before, and I'll say it again...."You learn something new on this site everyday."

Ridley,
Thanks for that info. I didn't even know about that either.
-MM-

 

[ModernMiner]

Very nice like the civil war stuff. There is a cavity in the base of that bullet. I clean mine with dish detergent and a soft tooth brush. If you clean the dirt out of the base it may have some sort of marking in it also star is one of the markings you may find. Good luck and get back there and tell us what you find.

Swinging,
I just cleaned out the bottom of the bullet, but unfortunately no star inside. Thanks for the tip though.
Picture below.
-MM-

 

[BuckleBoy]

OH, and one of the major features of real CW bullets is that white patina. Glad to hear you won't be tumbling any more of them! Congrats! Oh, and search that area GOOD, with low discrimination!

W