My first musket ball (I hope)

[BrettCo124]

Hey all,

This is my first musket ball I ever found. Probably not a big deal to most of you, but it’s huge to me lol. I’ve always wanted to find one. It was located on the beach of a river in Maryland. It was laying on top.

I do not have a caliper measurer at the moment, but I did weigh it. Please see pic below.

Do you know if it’s an actual musket ball? If so, do you know if it’s possibly from the revolutionary war? It wasn’t found on a battlefield.

Lastly, I do not want to clean the patina off of it, so I can’t check for the casting sprue.

Thanks all.

BrettCo

 

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[buck8point]

Congrats.. Just found my first one as well a couple weeks ago. still pumped about it. whats the diameter? mine is .48"

 

[BrettCo124]

Congrats.. Just found my first one as well a couple weeks ago. still pumped about it. whats the diameter? mine is .48"

Thanks! I’m still hoping it’s an actual musket ball. I do not have a means to measure it at the moment (I’m buying one this week). But I weighed it in the meantime, in case someone can use that number to help justify whether or not it is indeed one.

 

[buck8point]

I looks right to me. the patina looks old. looks much like mine

 

[BrettCo124]

I looks right to me. the patina looks old. looks much like mine

I sure hope! Thanks, and congrats on yours too

 

[bearbqd]

Looks like one to me and I’ve dug many.

 

[BrettCo124]

If it is a true musket ball, does this mean it most likely came from a soldier during the revolutionary war? Or am I jumping the gun?

 

[AlabamaRelic]

A pure lead ball .56 caliber should weigh 260 grains.

 

[BrettCo124]

A pure lead ball .56 caliber should weigh 260 grains.

Mine does! What would that mean to you? Were pure lead balls used in revolutionary war? Sorry I’m such a newbie at this one.

 

[Treasurehunter133]

Mine does! What would that mean to you? Were pure lead balls used in revolutionary war? Sorry I’m such a newbie at this one
Most likely not. I've found ones near my house that were from the revolutionary war and they had a white patina and were not a perfect circle. That's probably early 1800s.

 

[BrettCo124]

Mine does! What would that mean to you? Were pure lead balls used in revolutionary war? Sorry I’m such a newbie at this one
Most likely not. I've found ones near my house that were from the revolutionary war and they had a white patina and were not a perfect circle. That's probably early 1800s.

Thanks! But doesn’t this have a patina on it?

 

[Shorewalker]

Congrats on the find! I found my first one last summer. It was also laying on a beach (on the Potomac). After doing some research and looking at pictures online, mine turns out to be CW era. It has some surprising weight for such a small ball. I was looking for arrowheads. It's fun to come across stuff like this.

 

[Tommybuckets]

These would be used for hunting and perhaps trading or barter. Looks good but unless you are finding some military buttons along side its speculative. When they are nice and white like that I assume they are fairly old. Old could just be mid 1800s.

 

[BrettCo124]

Thanks everyone. Is there any true way to determine this was from revolutionary war era?

 

[CASPER-2]

Thanks everyone. Is there any true way to determine this was from revolutionary war era?

Like said - unless you are in an area of known battle - theres no telling if its Rev war or not - I live in Ma. in an area
100 of miles from any action - most of my musketballs are actually more from the 1600s
I been in hobby since 1975 at age 12 and still like finding them

 

[BrettCo124]

It’s a lot of fun to find. Glad I can say I finally found one.

 

[gunsil]

Musket ball is a term that applies to a ball used in a musket which was a military weapon. Round ball is the proper term for round lead projectiles of unknown provenance. There were many many more round balls fired for hunting or target shooting than were ever fired in battle in the USA. Early muskets usually shot large balls, 69 caliber or larger and during the civil war and a little earlier they had rifled muskets that were 54 and 58 calibers. There were balls made for various shotgun calibers also when said gun was used for larger game as in modern shotgun slugs. Even finding a round ball or minie ball on a know battle site does not necessarily mean it was used in battle since most battle sites were hunted on before and after battles. The "gauge" of a shotgun refers to how many round balls could be cast from a pound of lead to fit the barrel. In other words 12 round balls can be made from a pound of lead equals a 12 gauge shotgun, 20 balls from a pound of lead equals a 20 gauge shotgun. 410 shotguns are the anomaly, the 410 referring to a bore size of .410 inches, not the number of balls made from a pound of lead.

 

[BrettCo124]

Musket ball is a term that applies to a ball used in a musket which was a military weapon. Round ball is the proper term for round lead projectiles of unknown provenance. There were many many more round balls fired for hunting or target shooting than were ever fired in battle in the USA. Early muskets usually shot large balls, 69 caliber or larger and during the civil war and a little earlier they had rifled muskets that were 54 and 58 calibers. There were balls made for various shotgun calibers also when said gun was used for larger game as in modern shotgun slugs. Even finding a round ball or minie ball on a know battle site does not necessarily mean it was used in battle since most battle sites were hunted on before and after battles. The "gauge" of a shotgun refers to how many round balls could be cast from a pound of lead to fit the barrel. In other words 12 round balls can be made from a pound of lead equals a 12 gauge shotgun, 20 balls from a pound of lead equals a 20 gauge shotgun. 410 shotguns are the anomaly, the 410 referring to a bore size of .410 inches, not the number of balls made from a pound of lead.

Insanely educational. Thanks so much. I guess I will never truly know its history, but I’m still happy to have one. The best thing I can do is try and learn a little more history of where I found it. It’s a neat little find, and I can’t believe how heavy they are... I would most certainly not want to ever be hit by one.

 

[arrow86]

Hey Brett was this found in Maryland near the bridge ? If so there was a battle fought a few miles from there during War of 1812 - search kitty night house history for the details . British troops landed all around this area

 

[BrettCo124]

Hey Brett was this found in Maryland near the bridge ? If so there was a battle fought a few miles from there during War of 1812 - search kitty night house history for the details . British troops landed all around this area

This was found on that beach! On the surface. I was shocked. I’m 99 percent sure its a musket ball. Very, very heavy for its size. I read about Kitty Knight house. Really interesting! I wonder if it’s really from that.