First Civil War Find!!!

[WildmanLivesOn]

Doing some metal detecting on a ridge in Knoxville, Tn and found what I think is a fired Confederate Enfield round. It'd a little mangled but was found in an area where skirmishes occurred according to my research. I say Confederate because they had the largest presence in Knoxville during the war. Correct me if I'm wrong as this would be my first possible Civil War find. I cleaned the inside looking for markings. Notice the rifling. Is this period correct?
The last picture is why you should always wear protection in the forest.

 

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[pong12211]

That's a big copperhead... I hate snakes..

 

[d2]

Wildman, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that is a modern shotgun slug not an Enfield bullet. Sorry, but keep looking and watch out for snakes...d2

 

[birdman]

That copperhead is a monster!

 

[tennessee digger]

d2 is right, it is not civil war era. Sorry. That snake is huge and where there is one adult, there will be another close by.

 

[Petrie502]

Def a modern shotgun slug, huge snake though

 

[WildmanLivesOn]

Thanks guys, I never thought of it being a shotgun slug. That seems like a logical answer. The snake was rather big. They're just so hard to see most times.

 

[silversweeper]

Nice snake there! I do believe I would skin and tan that one, would make a pretty display or might even be big enough for a wallet or two. Better watch out for the mate, however, she/he won't be far.

 

[VERDE]

WildmanLivesOn!! I agree with silversweeper, that would make a great hatband!! Neat to talk about in MD circles!! The other is a modern era shotgun slug which appears to be 12 Gauge!! GOOD HUNTING!! VERDE!!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Any reason why you had to kill the snake as opposed to just leaving the area? I hate to see the senseless slaughter of an animal

 

[parsonwalker]

You might have had a record holder there. I recently came across a 48" copperhead and found out it tied the record in Virginia. Yours looks BIGGER!! The national record is 52" in Texas . . .

 

[Tnmountains]

I killed one that was around 50 without the head. Realized later it would have made the books.Have a pic somewhere of it by a ruler. That is one snake that shows no mercy. We killed it by the house. Keep looking Knoxville saw some action and there are some good clubs up there. To bad you cannot hunt the fields near Neyland Stadium on the river. I hear they all produce.

 

[jewelerguy]

looks like a modern shotgun slug to me

 

[Bayou Joe]

Yep, that's a big copper. I have to deal with many venomous snakes here in Florida. Cottonmouths most of all since I'm always around water, seeing them is hard at times, but when I smell one and never see it, I tend to swing that detector more while getting the heck out of the area. (And yes the cottonmouth secretes a fowl smell as a warning)

 

[Wildcat1750]

Well even if it didn't turn out to be a CW ball at least you came to the right place to find out. Pretty exciting hunt with that snake joining you!

 

[WildmanLivesOn]

There were forts and batterys all over Knoxville. Problem is the University police are too nosy and love auctioning off metal detectors. What they don't own has been acquired by private groups for preservation. I was about 2 miles north of the center of town on the ridge overlooking the city. There was a battle there in lore but not recorded. It seems like a rational place as all the southern ridges were fortified and the soldiers had to pass through the gap in shooting range when coming from Cumberland Gap. I've never identified a civil war site but on the ridge were a few other things including an 8mm mauser round unfired, what looks like a thin walled cast iron stew pot. Recovered a piece of the wall with the handle where the chain attached, a pony rail spike about 8" long, a copper medallion of some sort, a few horse shoes and nails, a broken file. I didn't have a lot of time to look. As for the snake, I usually kill the poisonous ones because I don;t like happening upon them more than once! Sorry animal lovers. I leave the blacksnakes and ground snakes alone.

 

[ironman]

Nice snake there! I do believe I would skin and tan that one, would make a pretty display or might even be big enough for a wallet or two. Better watch out for the mate, however, she/he won't be far.

Dont forget to put some oil in a pan a fry him