My first three ringer!

Lexicon Devil · Oct 18, 2014

Tonight, across the street at my neighbor's yard I found:
3 clad pennies (1 wheatie 1951)
An old drawer knob ("Made in Taiwan" stamp on the back)
An old "L" shape piece of metal (Can anyone identify?)
And my most awesome-est find since i began MDing (only 2 weeks)... an old melted three ringer! Think it's a Spencer carbine(?)
Found this all with my Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. I am very excited

WheatWaffle · Oct 18, 2014

Nice finds!

flatbutton · Oct 18, 2014

Congrats! I'm sure there will be more to come :headbang:

I-DIG-IT · Oct 19, 2014

Nice digs.

CoilyGirl · Oct 19, 2014

Nice job!

Dman · Oct 19, 2014

Congrats on your first CW bullet.

Garrett424 · Oct 19, 2014

Cool finds. Congrats on the three ringer.
I started off with a Tracker IV myself. I found some really good stuff with it. You'll kill the clad with it.
It's a capable little machine.

Congrats.

metalev4 · Oct 19, 2014

Congrats on the bullet, u will never forget the first.

TheCannonballGuy · Oct 19, 2014

Lexicon Devil, the bullet's finder, wrote:
> Think it's a Spencer carbine(?)

First, congratulations on finding your first definitely civil war era bullet.

Having a wide, deep, cone-shaped cavity in it base excludes it from being a Spencer bullet. (That type had a flat solid base.) It appears to be a "generic" civil war yankee-made 3-groove Minie-bullet, made for use in a muzzleloading Springfield rifle. Comparing its diameter with the US penny in the photo, it looks like it's a .58-caliber -- but we need precise measurement of its diameter to be sure about what caliber it is.

By the way... in the single photo you posted, it doesn't look melted to me... looks like a fired one which has impact-damage on its nose.

Lexicon Devil · Oct 19, 2014

TheCannonballGuy said:
Lexicon Devil, the bullet's finder, wrote:
> Think it's a Spencer carbine(?)

First, congratulations on finding your first definitely civil war era bullet.

Having a wide, deep, cone-shaped cavity in it base excludes it from being a Spencer bullet. (That type had a flat solid base.) It appears to be a "generic" civil war yankee-made 3-groove Minie-bullet, made for use in a muzzleloading Springfield rifle. Comparing its diameter with the US penny in the photo, it looks like it's a .58-caliber -- but we need precise measurement of its diameter to be sure about what caliber it is.

By the way... in the single photo you posted, it doesn't look melted to me... looks like a fired one which has impact-damage on its nose.

I did some research on it yesterday, and found the same information. A .58 minie likely from a Springfield. Your assessment further validates my research! Thanks TheCannonballGuy!