Lead Ball.

[omegared31]

Found this lead ball today and not quite sure what it is so any help would be great. Its 6.22mm at its largest point and it weighs 17 grams. Thanks for looking and all the help.

 

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[HunterII]

Do you mean 17 grains? If so possibly F shot

 

[smokeythecat]

IF grams, early to pre Civil War musket ball. Check the history of the area where it was found. That size is generally military.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

So, it's about 0.24", which is #4 Buck. That should weigh 20.7 grains (or 1.34 grams). 17 grams is equivalent to 262.3 grains. But if it were lead that would be WAY bigger than 6.22mm.

I think one of your units of measure is incorrect.

.58 cal is about 14.7mm

 

[omegared31]

Here maybe these will help. I was way off on the size. For some reason I must have read my micrometers wrong.

 

[BosnMate]

Using my math, and by looking at the ruler I'm guessing it's around 11/16, which is close to .69 caliber. 10/16 is .625 which is to large for a .62 caliber, so my swag is it's probably about the right size for a Brown Bess. Anymore I forget most everything I learned over the years, so checked WIKI, and that says the Bess used a .69 caliber ball if that helps at all. I know they were a rather loose fit, they tore open the paper cartridge, dumped the powder down the bore, then rammed the ball, paper and all. There was a study done by the Brits, and it was discovered they got more hits over hard ground, than over plowed ground, so apparently they were bouncing them in. Someone else said that it was a mighty unfortunate fellow indeed, if he was being shot at on purpose 100 yards away, and suffered getting hit. With out exact measurements that's about the best I can do.

 

[omegared31]

Your math would be correct. I just remeasured it and its just a hair under 16mm. So you may be correct with the Brown Bess guess. Are there any other guns that would use that size ball or can we put this to rest with it being a Bess ball?

 

[BosnMate]

Perhaps Charlie P. will check back and have more ideas. A Brown Bess had the same size bore as a 12 gauge shot gun does today. There have been a lot of large bore muzzle loaders over the years, right up to present times. I have a friend with a .69 caliber rifle and personally have a .62 caliber rifle. The Brits used large bore rifles because they hunted in Africa, which has animals that are way tougher than what we have/had here. .54 was a common caliber once the westward movement started with the beaver trappers, and there were many an argument on who wasted the most lead, the big bores many times finished the job with one shot, where many times the .50 or .54 takes more than one shot. So to positively say Brown Bess really depends on the location of the find, and the history of the area. Also, I at one time owned both a repo Bess, and an original, and I shot both of them, so it would be possible in western Oregon to find a Brown Bess musket ball, that dates to the 70's, the 1970's that is.