Minie Ball..Modern Replica or old?

[grafer]

I am definitely not an expert on Minie balls. I am looking for opinions as to whether this is a modern replica? or original?

I found the minie ball on the left today (The one on the right was found a couple years ago). The thing that confuses me is that it doesn't have the patina I would expect. Have any of the experts seen minie balls come out of the ground with little or none of the "tan" patina? It is also in amazing shape. And the weight is different. The one on the left that I found today weighs abour 28.6 grams. The one on the right that I found a couple years ago weighs about 31.2 grams.

Thanks for any assistance...

 

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[21stTNCav]

Well amigo, in my overrated opinion I think it is most likely real. The value of the average minni is only 3 or 4 bucks. To go through the time and trouble to get a mold, buy the lead, heat and pour a bullet, you might be out more than if you bought one. Some folks do competitively fire weapons that use minnies, but not especially wide spread. Could it be a fake?? Sure, it is possible, but I don't think very probible.

Now as for patina I have a group of minnies that are jet black because they came out of the ocean. Yep, the Army had coastal faculties even back then. Many drops are pristine examples and if conditions are correct I would say a minnie could easily come out the patina you show above.

My thought is it is real but no one can be certain. It might be extremely hard to tell a fake but once again, why would you make one??

 

[grafer]

Thanks for the opinion and information 21stTNCav. I was mainly concerned about the patina, since I thought they almost always came out of the ground tan. But is sounds like this is not always the case. The location I found it was not a place where there would be any competitive weapons fire for Minnies. Matter of fact I was shocked when it popped out of the ground. Thanks again

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

As you suspected, one of the characteristics of a modern-made Minie is that dug ones will visibly have less than the typical thickness (and color) of Lead Oxide patina found on dug civil war original ones.

That being said... I've also seen definitely-original civil war Minies come out of swamp-muck and from underwater sites with little or no oxidation on them. That is because there is much less oxygen available for oxidation in swamp-muck and underwater. They tend to be nearly-black or greyish-black ...and some are the deep-grey color of mildly oxidized lead.

The minie you found looks like an excavated Original one which was dug from a low-oxygen environment.

The majority of modern-made Minie balls are used by hunters of "large" game (deer, etc) using Blackpowder rifles. You can buy molds for making Minies at suppliers like Dixie Gun Works. The most popular cast lead bullet mold-manufacturer is Lyman. Do a Google-search for Lyman Mould (note the spelling as "mould") and you'll see many examples.)

I myself have dug many Lyman Mould .58 Minies from civil war battlesites here in Virginia. Understandably, Blackpowder deer hunters don't care that they are "contaminating" the battlesites with modern minies. It's just a fact that we relic-diggers have to accept, and adapt to by learning to recognize Lyman Mould repro Minies.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/bullet-casting/select-mould-blackpowder.php

But please note, unfortunately for us relic-diggers, Lyman is not the only manufacturer of molds for reproduction minies. I know from personal experience that a significant number of battlefield park souvenir shops sell lead reproduction "civil war" minies.

Another clue is that the reproductions are almost always from a "nose-cast" mold ...meaning, the minie's nose-tip is where the casting-sprue is located, and when the lead casting-sprue is clipped off, the minie's nose-tip is flat. See the photo below, which shows a 1960s-era reproduction .58-caliber Minie (with blackpowder "collodion cartridge") on its base, and a packet of them from the manufacturer. These were made for NSSA (North-South Skirmish Association) civil war firearms Competition-match shooters, back in the 1960s. Note that the lettering on the packet is modern-style, having no serifs on the letters.

 

[grafer]

Thanks for all the great information! I will add the links to my bookmark arsenal. I knew i could get the information I needed from this forum. Lots of great knowledge from its members. Thanks again ....

 

[Narthoniel]

Hello,

Last winter I was digging in a Union camp in Maryland and found a handful of bullets. 11 of them came out with the patina you would expect, but one of them came out grey. I never did any looking into it, but just wanted to let you know someone else has dug a bullet with no patina on a land site.

Anthony

 

[BuckleBoy]

Hello,

Last winter I was digging in a Union camp in Maryland and found a handful of bullets. 11 of them came out with the patina you would expect, but one of them came out grey. I never did any looking into it, but just wanted to let you know someone else has dug a bullet with no patina on a land site.

Anthony

I have one or two that are gray that have come from land sites.

It isn't common in my experience, but it does happen. I sincerely doubt that mine is modern. Not even any shotgun shells or other bullets came up in that pasture.

Best Wishes,

Buck