Musket ball ID

[Bama Billy]

So I found this roughly 3-400 yards from a civil war fort. That coupled with finding a couple 3 ringers, I assumed the musket ball was civil war as well. I got it home and clean the dirt off so I could measure it. It measures 16mm which after a little bit of research, seems to be a bit of an oddball. Some of the stuff I read even suggested it could pre-civil war. I tried to get a good picture of what I assume is a cast mark. Anybody what era or what fired it? Thanks for looking

 

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[Bama Billy]

Nobody?

 

[buck8point]

Recently found one very similar, but it is .48"
Same all white patina.

 

[grasshopper]

TheCannonBallGuy is your man for ID.

Hope he responds here or maybe take a look through some of his old replies that may help you find an answer to your question]

Nice find!

 

[ToddsPoint]

US ammo is measured in inches. Looks like (without doing metric conversion) the usual .69 musket ball to me. Gary

 

[Rookster]

Bama
I think there was a .54 cal. But I'm no where close to an expert. No if it were a pull tab.

 

[Bama Billy]

US ammo is measured in inches. Looks like (without doing metric conversion) the usual .69 musket ball to me. Gary

Clearly the photo shows it to be 16mm is which converts to .63 so I don’t think that’s right.

 

[Bama Billy]

Bama
I think there was a .54 cal. But I'm no where close to an expert. No if it were a pull tab.

Thanks man, I think you’re right. My guess is either this was possibly a pre-war dropped ball or maybe one of those confederate soldiers just used whatever he could find but it’s not a typical size for civil war battle.

 

[Reanm8er]

Should work swell in 69 cal with a heavy patch.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Clearly the photo shows it to be 16mm is which converts to .63 so I don’t think that’s right.

I'm the guy recommended to you by Grasshopper. To my eye, your photo shows the ball's measurement is slightly more than 16 millimeters. Thus it is about .64-to.65-inch in diameter. That makes it the exactly-correct size to be a .69-caliber musketball. For verification of what I'm telling you... the "Handbook Of Civil War Bullets & Cartridges" shows two civil war era .69 musketballs, and says their diameters are .648-inch and .650-inch.