Help with civil war lead (weight and measurements provided)

[Kevo_DFX]

Hi there.

I have included three pictures of projectiles I found on or near a small civil war fort in MD. The first is a small conical bullet, the second is a very small ball, the third is a large ball. All were fired so the length and width measurements may not be 100% accurate.

Small conical bullet: 12.7 grams, 18.3 mm x 10.8 mm
Small Ball: 8.1 grams, 13.1 mm
Large ball: 25.6 grams, 16.8 mm

Any help with identification would be appreciated.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[BosnMate]

Calibers are in 1/100's of an inch, so .50 caliber is half an inch, but a .50 caliber ball will be .490 or .495, so accurate measurements in 1/1000's are
necessary for proper ID, and I know nothing from mm. Sorry, I can't help you. Perhaps CannonBallBuy will see this and do the math. Oh yes, I'll also add this, bullets are weighed in grains, so that also would help with not having to do the math coversion.

 

[Kevo_DFX]

Bullet - .7205" x .425"
Small Ball - .516"
Large Ball - ..661"

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bullet #1's weight, length, diameter, and body form indicate it is a civil war era .44 Colt "New-model" bullet. However, because its lower body is impact-damaged, I can't be 100% sure that it is a Colt New-model bullet.

Deducing the correct identification of the two lead balls is more complicated, because both of them appear to have been fired. As I've said elsewhere, impact-damage changes a bullet's shape but not its weight -- unless it got splattered to pieces. Therefore, because both of the lead balls are impact-damaged into an out-of-round shape and thus their original diameter cannot now be measured accurately, we'll have to rely on the precisely-measured weight you reported.
Smaller ball is 125 grains, which means it is a .44-caliber pistol ball.
Larger ball is 395 grains, which means it is a .69-caliber musketball.

However, I must mention that many civil war artillery shells had lead balls of those two sizes inside them for additional "antipersonnel" effect. Also, you say you found them "at or near" a civil war fort in Maryland. It's somewhat unusual to find fired bullets at a fort where no combat action happened. (Although target-practice is a possibility -- but in that case, you find LOTS of the SAME KIND of fired bullets in a relatively small area.) Is their any record of combat at that fort? In particular, any artillery action? I'm asking because if there was no artillery combat there, the balls cannot be antipersonel balls from an exploded artillery shell.

 

[Kevo_DFX]

Thank you for the info CBG, I hoped you would reply! There was absolutely no action at this fort. It was manned early in the war and later fell into disuse.

 

[Nimocone]

CannonballGuy: Have you ever considered putting your knowledge into a quick reference chart of some sort? Excel or something. Column for "grains" One for "caliber", etc so the rest of us could consult it and have an idea of what we have? Shoot, even a website. You're very generous with your time and I enjoy reading your responses. Hope you never burn out answering questions. I just picked up a digital caliper and may hit you up with some questions on my finds. Many thanks!