I need help with this CW bullet

[jhnbaker]

I found this bullet at a Yankee Campsite here in Rienzi Mississippi but I haven't been able to ID it. It looks like a sharps because of the hole in it but has a pateern around it that is different. It almost looks like a thimble pattern.

As far as it's measurements thisis is my best guess with the old measuring tape that I have. It is about 3/8 of an inch tall (due to the top portion being flattened) and .72 of an inch across the bottom. Hope this helps!most looks like a thimble pattern. Thanks for looking.

 

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[CRUSADER]

Never seen a bullet with those type of patterns, could be something else

 

[timbuckII]

Dosen't look like a bulllet to me but If it is lead it was probably cast. Could be a finial of some sort, top of a parsol or the tip of a cane. ??

 

[alkoz]

thimble

 

[jhnbaker]

The reason that I think that it may be a bulletis that I found it at a Yankee campsite and the demensions of the bullet at the base are about the same as a typical "3 ringer" bullet that we find at campsites. Another guy from another forum thought it might be a Sharps bullet because of the hole and that it may have been molded from a thimble which would have given it that pattern. Who knows? I am not an expert at all but it is an intersting find.

 

[dkw]

Although I've never seen an old bullet with that pattern or one that large I know that some modern bullets are made with a similar pattern on them.

The top is a Hornady .45 pistol bullet. The botom is a CVA .54 muzzleloading bullet.

 

[CRUSADER]

Although I've never seen an old bullet with that pattern or one that large I know that some modern bullets are made with a similar pattern on them.

The top is a Hornady .45 pistol bullet. The botom is a CVA .54 muzzleloading bullet.

Looks a close match, well done

 

[dkw]

Are you sure on your measurements? The bullet looks to be longer than it is tall. 3/8" tall would only be .375. It just doesn't look to me like it could be .375 tall and .72 diameter. That would make it roughly twice as big in diameter as it is tall.

 

[Monty]

That particular diamond shaped pattern would tell me it is a swaged bullet or one that was squeezed into shape in a forming die. The pattern is made that way to hold bullet lube so it wouldn't leave lead residue in a gun's barrel. It has a hollow base and a driving band around the middle. Most hollow based bullets are designed to expand to catch the lands in the barrel, but this one does not apear to be the case. Most likely it is hollow to remove lead and adjust the bullet weight. The driving band around the middle is what actually catches the lands on this bullet when fired. Being a swaged bullet it is not of the CW era, rather fairly contemporarily manufactured. The design with the driving band tells me it is more likely a rifle bullet. The nose of the bullet is flattened by impact so it is impossible to guess what it might have looked like Any number of companies or individuals sell swaged bullets, most are made for reloading. Hornady comes to mind as well as Speer and you can buy dies to swage your own bullets from a company called Corbin Mfg. Monty

 

[GrantWA]

I see marks in the bullet from the rifle lands, I thought most CW weapons in that caliber range were smooth bore muskets.

That said, one of the local doctors has an original .38 caliber flintlock from his family, and when you look at it from the barrel end the bore appears to be shaped like a octagon from the rifle lands being cut in by hand. So I can see where this projectile could appear almost square on the one end like it does.