Is this a musket ball?

EC.Mason

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Hey guys and gals, found this in the yard of an old home built around 1915. There was a log home that sat in the same spot before it was built. Any idea if this is a small musket ball? Any help would be appreciate!
81629955-0BD6-4D40-B632-D137CFD0D76F.jpeg FB3F88F4-D605-4D68-86D1-65F07C407EB2.jpeg 11B9882D-ECBF-42ED-9FA6-05EDA9080966.jpeg
 

stillwater

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yes, pistol ball with mold mark (seam) and the little extra 'nip' that squeezed out the mold. Wasn't fired, but dropped. Made in the field. Always a good find.
 

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smokeythecat

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It's hard to tell. Probably NOT 20th century, and in your area, probably around the Civil War period, but it was hand made as stillwater stated.
 

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l.cutler

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Not a musket ball, too small, but it is a round ball. Could be for a rifle or pistol, no way to really tell. An exact measurement with calipers would give you the caliber.
 

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A2coins

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I disagree it looks like a fishing weight just my opinion
 

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l.cutler

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I may be wrong on this, but I don't think buck shot was made by casting in a mold. Rifles were made in .32 caliber and even smaller, Colt revolvers were made in .31 caliber. My bet would be on a rifle or revolver ball. An accurate measurement would be a big help.
 

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Gambrinus

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I may be wrong on this, but I don't think buck shot was made by casting in a mold. Rifles were made in .32 caliber and even smaller, Colt revolvers were made in .31 caliber. My bet would be on a rifle or revolver ball. An accurate measurement would be a big help.

I have been thinking about getting a triple ought or #3 buckshot mold which measures .250 since I am already casting bullets for my .357. The smallest buckshot mold I have seen is a #4 which measures.240.
I agree with you that an accurate measurement would help.
 

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Gambrinus

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Red-Coat

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Since the late 1700s, small shot (up to about 3.8mm as a maximum) was usually made by pouring molten lead through a sieve at the top of a chimney-like tower (a process patented in 1782). The sieve broke up the stream into small droplets which then formed spheres as they dropped from a height into a cold water tank at the bottom. The shot was then sorted by tipping it onto a slightly inclined table and anything that didn't roll down the slope went for re-melting. In 1848 a patent was filed for the addition of a cold air blast that shortened the height of the drop required.

Before these processes, shot was usually made by dribbling the lead directly into cold water without first free-falling in a tower (poor quality of roundness, but cheap) or in moulds (good quality of roundness, but expensive). Larger shot was usually made by cutting lead sheet into small pieces and barrel-tumbling them until they were round.
 

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Noah_D

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I disagree it looks like a fishing weight just my opinion

I can see that, but I think it is a small musket or pistol ball. The round fishing sinkers I am familiar with are split shots and they have a crack down the side... it could just be me but I don't see a crack on the side.
 

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EC.Mason

EC.Mason

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I may be wrong on this, but I don't think buck shot was made by casting in a mold. Rifles were made in .32 caliber and even smaller, Colt revolvers were made in .31 caliber. My bet would be on a rifle or revolver ball. An accurate measurement would be a big help.


Wish I knew how to accurately measure it !
 

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Red-Coat

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If you don't have or can't borrow a set of callipers do you have a full set of drill bits for wood? If so, you can bore a series of holes into a piece of wood and get a pretty accurate measure of diameter by trying the ball progressively in the holes.
 

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TheCannonballGuy

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EC.Mason wrote:
> I don't know how to accurately measure it. [...] I wish I did [have a set of Calipers].

EC, you can buy a very good quality set of stainless-steel (not cheap plastic) Digital Calipers at Harbor Freight Tools for a mere $15 to $19... either at the HFT website or a local HFT store in your town.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=digital caliper
Trust me, you will come around to thinking that's one of the best under-$20 investments you've ever made in your life. Being able to do super-precise measuring (hundredths-of-an-inch) will come in handy and save (or make) you money in more areas of life than just doing relic-identification.

About calipers for CORRECT relic-identification:
Super-accurate measurement of size isn't just helpful for correctly identifying bullets. Buttons and buckles and coins also need super-accurate measurement. Being able to measure them in millimeters or hundredths-of-an-inch helps you spot a Reproduction, or (worse) a Fake buckle or button or counterfeit coin being sold as a valuable Original. Take my word about that, and spend the $18 for steel digital calipers.

If you don't want to ever buy batteries, pay $1 more to get the non-electrical watchdial version of calipers.
https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-dial-caliper-63730.html
 

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