these are NOT cleaned - this is how most of them come out of saltwater- they usually have a black powder coating
that comes right off after you pull them from the scoop
didn't find them "there" - have only been "there" once this year and that was in winter
I have a handful of spots I get them at - place I was at - ive gotten over a 100 - from small pistol to huge
69 cal. - have gotten a few CW style 3 ringers too
minelab safari,whites m6, AT Pro, Ace 250 and whites coin master, Garrett AT propointer (garrett carrot), Lesche hand digger, 5x8 & 8.5x11 DD coils for the Pro, Camera is Ion Air Pro 3
the fort was used from late 1700s thru civil war - they made changes many times to the fort over those yrs
balls could be from Rev - 1812 - or CW - during Rev war British did make an attempt to capture by sea with row boats and were turned away
don't know if any of these could have been fired in their direction - could be just from target practice - maybe shooting at seagulls
but think they are possibly 200 yrs or older
I still love finding Musket Balls...I usually don't find that many in one hunt but if one or two turn up I consider it a successful hunt even if nothing else is found.
Casp, it reminds me a lot of the site I've been working over the recent two years. Curious what calibers you are finding the most of. I go back and forth between rev war use and 1600's naval use at my site (mostly .70 and .55 balls) I saw a barrell of naval shot that had been recovered in a wreck in the Caribbean stuffed with .50/.70 lead balls and was labeled by the archie's simply as shot. Then at a maritime museum here in VA, they have barrels staged in an interpretive exhibit with the same.
My site was a colonial landing/trading point from the 1600's but also saw Rev War activity. I and those I brought with me have now found 700-1,000 of these balls scattered all about, with some in heavy concentration and others solo.