Odd 3 ringer. Game piece?

[Mr. Digger]

Up here in New England we get mostly musket balls. Don't dig too many 3 ringers. Is this a normal shape? Was it made into a game piece?

 

[ncsuwolf]

Sometimes they get deformed from trying to pull a lodged bullet or while loading from the ramrod when the barrel is fouled. However, as I’m pretty sure I can see cut marks on that minie ball I’d call it camp art or game piece.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Cool find !

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

I don't see a hole in the top from a worm puller. It could have been a hard ram but the nipple on top looks too tall for a ramrod. I am with @ncsuwolf on this one. Great find

 

[oldmxrat]

Cool find, congrats!

 

[Nathan W]

Awesome

 

[Mr. Digger]

I happened to watch Aquachigger's most recent video on YT and he found a bullet that looked exactly like mine. He said the top is deformed because someone had to hammer the bullet down the barrel using the ram rod, probably because the barrel was dirty.

 

[ncsuwolf]

T

I happened to watch Aquachigger's most recent video on YT and he found a bullet that looked exactly like mine. He said the top is deformed because someone had to hammer the bullet down the barrel using the ram rod, probably because the barrel was dirty.

that can cause the defect, as mentioned before. However if you look at your second picture, 1/3 of the way from front of bullet at 12:00, you can see cut marks. Also, I don’t think New England saw the type of fighting that would have led to a fouled bore and an aggressively used ramrod.

Additionally I don’t see any riflings, which means the bullet was dropped, not shot. Best guess is that came home in a soldiers pocket from the war