I found a 12lb Whitworth Bolt!

Keith S · Jul 21, 2015

I don't post here much but I thought you guys would appreciate this. Recovered from a small creek in the Shenandoah Valley with my AT Pro. The Whitworth was a rare artillery piece used in the American Civil War. I have a video of the recovery but I'm not sure if it's OK to link it since my YouTube account is monetized?

Keith S · Jul 21, 2015

otrkid70 said:
What is it and what is it used for? Thats a weird find!

I edited the post with the info

thrifty76now · Jul 21, 2015

Which side was most likely to have used that type of shell? I have not seen one before.Great recovery.

Keith S · Jul 21, 2015

thrifty76now said:
Which side was most likely to have used that type of shell? I have not seen one before.Great recovery.

The South. They were imported from England to the Confederacy.

Ranger121 · Jul 21, 2015

Nice.....I've seen video of the Whit.....great historical save.

parsonwalker · Jul 21, 2015

Keith S said:
The South. They were imported from England to the Confederacy.

It's dang RARE and almost deserves a banner mention. There were whit worth RIFLES as well - coveted by sharpshooters of either side. GREAT find, dude!

Charlie P. (NY) · Jul 21, 2015

Tremendously cool!

#2 here

Patriot Relics · Jul 21, 2015

I was lucky enough to recover a Whitworth octagonal bullet but first time I've seen it's artillery counterpart. Thanks for the additional info Charlie.

19cbb · Jul 21, 2015

Here's the video... oh, and my banner vote for such an amazing piece of artillery!

flatbutton · Jul 21, 2015

parsonwalker said:
It's dang RARE and almost deserves a banner mention. There were whit worth RIFLES as well - coveted by sharpshooters of either side. GREAT find, dude!

I Agree! The only dug specimen I ever saw belongs to a buddy of mine. It was found in the Wilmington N.C. area

sutphin · Jul 21, 2015

WHAT A FIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Professor of Engineering · Jul 21, 2015

Congratulations on the historically significant find.

BuckleBoy · Jul 21, 2015

Killer find and a fantastic video of the recovery too!

Cheers,

Buck

UnderMiner · Jul 21, 2015

Cleaned up it would fit nicely in a museum display! :thumbsup:

etex · Jul 21, 2015

Banner find

rovnrbl53 · Jul 21, 2015

Banner for me. I've only seen two others dug....both from same location in NVa.

nsdq · Jul 21, 2015

Holy Arty that is coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

Tnmountains · Jul 21, 2015

I saw the title and having only found one whitworth bullet knew this was special. I have not seen the Vid yet but assume it has the twist like the bullets? Congrats that is a great find!
Glad you have joined the t-net community.

zaxfire69 · Jul 21, 2015

That is an amazing and rare find. Banner for sure!

Keith S · Jul 22, 2015

UnderMiner said:
Cleaned up it would fit nicely in a museum display!

Thanks everyone

It cleaned up quite nicely; the metal is superb with only 2 small areas (each smaller than a dime) of surface pitting. I ran it through electrolysis and a hot wax process. When I get home this evening, I'll post a photo of it cleaned up.

I found a nice Broun shell about 30 feet away on the opposite side of the creek; I'll put up a photo of that one as well.

Keith