Found old bullet in the woods need help identifying....

[Atomic Ed]

Well I was at a local park and it has some nature trails in the woods around it too. So we took the Ace 350 and started detecting the trails and aside from discovering alot of mosquitos, I dug the old bullet. However we were trying to determine the type and age but can,t find any info on one like it, so if any of you know and can tell us what it is, that would be great.

The dimensions are diameter is between .348-.355 and the oversll length is .683 and the back counter bore is .212 diameter x .089 depth. It has two rings near the base that have vertical ridges.

It may be nothing special but we can't identify it.

 

[vpnavy]

A member will jump in shortly and ID - in the meantime - that was a nice find Ed.

 

[Atomic Ed]

Thank you, it was exciting to find something other than clad coins and pull tabs for once

 

[Limitool]

Good job Ed.... I have no idea about your bullet but I hope someone can help narrow it down for you. I dig up old shotgun head stamps quite offen and always can't wait to get home to look up to see how old they are. Good fine and best of luck... Brad

 

[Ruchman]

Bullet Mold Double Cavity - Lee Precision. This chart should be helpfull the first number below the bullets are the cast diameter.

 

[Ruchman]

Possibly a 38s&w?

 

[Atomic Ed]

Bullet Mold Double Cavity - Lee Precision. This chart should be helpfull the first number below the bullets are the cast diameter.

Thanks for the link and I look through the charts there but still can't determine the size and age of the bullet I found. I wonder if it is very old, someone told me that happens to the lead where it turns white like the one I found if it is really old. I am not sure though..

 

[Ruchman]

I would bet its a .38cal or 9mm. I am no expert but the white oxidation is a uncertain way to date lead For example my lead supply comes from the roofs I work on, most of it is 20-25yrs old and pure white from oxidation. The roofs use pure lead in most cases. Asides from muzzle loaders and shot guns pure lead is not the best for casting bullets, I think this is where the white lead is misleading lots of times because most lead bullets are a mix of Linotype tin and lead depending on how much lead is in the mix the quicker the white oxidation appears (combined with soil type/weather conditions) Fishing weights is another good example you find modern weights pure white sometimes or dulled out grey. Again I am no expert but have been melting/fishing/shooting lead for a while. looks like you have a bullet from the 20-30's possibly .38 cal/9mm Just my option cool find!

 

[dieselfool]

I agree; .38 cal. of some sort. Does resemble a 38 S&W. With the hollow base, I would think manufacture from 1900 to 1940. Pretty hard to pin it down. And white tarnish can appear on lead in a short amount of time if the conditions are right. I have some .32 Short Colt ammo that turned white in 6 months when stored in a fresh pine box with high humidity.

 

[BosnMate]

[TABLE="class: norm100 shot"]
[TR="class: bg"]
[TH].354-.360
[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[TH].38 Smith & Wesson
[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: mushroom"]
[TH].355[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[TH].380 Auto
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: bg"]
[TH].355[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[TH].38 Super Auto[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: mushroom"]
[TH].355 - .356
[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[TH] 9 mm Luger
[/TH]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

The bullet diameter is on the left, and the caliber it relates to is on the right. Odds are that it is a revolver bullet, because the semi auto rounds are generally jacketed so they will feed out of the magazine without the soft lead bullet catching and jamming the gun. My guess would be a .38 revolver, of most any brand, Smith and Wesson and Colt being the two biggies, but there were many others. Those type of bullets are being manufactured today, although aren't as common as they used to be.

 

[Atomic Ed]

Thank you everyone for the information we appreciate it!

So we can say its most likely a 38 of some type and most likely fairly old if from the 20's to the 40’s. We are all exctied about it since it is the only real find other than clad coins we have had so far and to ponder the circumstances of just how and why this bullet was out there in the woods is pretty interesting to us.

The area in which we found it, is still undeveloped woods right alongside a river inlet of a large river here and when we saw you responses about approximate age, we did a little digging around as to the history of our area around that time frame, which was around prohibition all the way till the 1950's around here and found some info that alot of the river areas around here had stills and people running rum up and down the rivers. So while we will never know if it is possible this bullet came from one of those scenarios, it is still neat to think it could have been a raid on a still or what have you.

We thank you all for your great info!

 

[arrowhead82]

It looks like a "Prairie Grove Gardner"
http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles/razorbacks/PrairieGroveGardner.jpg
http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles/razorbacks/PrairieGroveGardnerCavityComments.jpg

you can see the crimp around the base nice find

 

[Atomic Ed]

It looks like a "Prairie Grove Gardner"
http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles/razorbacks/PrairieGroveGardner.jpg
http://www.civilwarprojectiles.com/articles/razorbacks/PrairieGroveGardnerCavityComments.jpg

you can see the crimp around the base nice find

That would be really cool but although it has a similar appearance to the one you gave the links to, it is smaller in diamter than I think these are and the grooves look skinnier than the ones in the link.

I wonder if anyone else thinks it could be some obscure calibre from that time period? It does look very old to us, but some here have mentioned that some lead bullets can age quickly under certain conditions so we are not sure.

I would be ecstatic if this turned out to be from the civil war time period but it seems to be the wrong size for that from what I have read.

If you have any further info as to any 38 calibre versions of this gardner style, it sure looks like it was taken from the same design at least.

 

[cwhunter_1]

looks like a .38 Savage to me. I find them quite often. They were made during the Civil War and are still made today. Just my two cents. Nice find anyway.