One just NEVER knows. Any lead experts out there?

[WHADIFIND]

Snow, ice, cold everywhere. A broken pipe that needed to be dug up. Look what I found.

Just thought I'd share.















Did they ever have a bullet called a "fatty" ? LOL

Looks like I've got some digging to do when it warms up.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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[mamabear]

OMGosh!!

 

[RobRieman]

Looks like a big honkin' .69!

 

[Old Dude]

You found that when you dug up a water line? Wow. Nice!


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[Red James Cash]

The fat one is a 12 gauge rifled slug(forth picture down)

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

You got some pulled bullets ( wormed) Nice! Love the Slug!, I have only found 2 so far! And the Musket balls ( round balls for those who hate the term musket balls) Are my Fav to find! Nice saves ! HH!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice bunch of bullets and in your own yard!
I think Blingie was looking for something with a little more bling to it!

 

[WHADIFIND]

Nice bunch of bullets and in your own yard!
I think Blingie was looking for something with a little more bling to it!

Yep, but since I was already home, he couldn't lock me out. LOL

Ya know, I've dug under there before. Many times! Repairing this and that but I've never noticed anything worth saving. Guess I just assumed, there couldn't be anything underneath me.

Have to look with new eyes now!

Thanks!

 

[JDug]

That's pretty crazy. Makes ya wonder what else is under you.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

You said "Any lead experts out there?" -- so I assume you want specific identifications for your lead finds. Pardon me if you already know some of the info.

The VERY-short "fatty" with multiple wide flat ridges going up its sides is indeed a 20th Century shotgun-slug. See the photos below.

The .58-caliber 3-groove Minie with six short lines arranged in a circle around its base-cavity is a civil war yankee-made "Pressed-&-Turned" minie (sometimes incorrectly called a "swaged" bullet). The version you found is from 1863-and-later.

The 3-groove Minie with a threaded hole in its nose-tip is an unfired one which got unloaded from the gunbarrel by using a bulletworm.

Your largest Minie seems to have rounded-edge body grooves. More photos of those grooves would be helpful... and we need to see its base-cavity to know what specific type it is. It is most probably a .69-caliber, but we need super-precise measurement of its diameter, to be sure what caliber it is, because it could be a .69, 70, 71, or .72-caliber.

The largest lead ball is an unfired .69-caliber musketball. Actual diameter is between .64 and .65-inch.

Musketballs needed to be perfectly-round to keep them from jamming in the gunbarrel during loading. Some of your other lead balls look out-of-round... so, they could be either fired musketballs or artillery shell case-shot balls. Did any civil war artillery combat happen where you dug them?

 

[WHADIFIND]

You said "Any lead experts out there?" -- so I assume you want specific identifications for your lead finds. Pardon me if you already know some of the info.

Naw, just sharing and gathering whatever guesses offer themselves. They're not going anywhere now.

Your largest Minie seems to have rounded-edge body grooves. More photos of those grooves would be helpful... and we need to see its base-cavity to know what specific type it is. It is most probably a .69-caliber, but we need super-precise measurement of its diameter, to be sure what caliber it is, because it could be a .69, 70, 71, or .72-caliber.

Close enough for gov't work. I'm not about to buy laboratory equipment to identify. The base? It's just a cone shaped hollow.

Did any civil war artillery combat happen where you dug them?

Well, none that I even suspected, 'til now.

Thanks for your efforts!

 

[mirage83]

Damn, I've checked my yard a little at a time over the last few years or so but nothing of note was found. Looks as if your yard is a substantially different story.

Just a FYI in case you've never looked into them before, you can get a decent digital micrometer for under $30. It won't be good enough to do formal engineering certifications, but it'll be plenty accurate enough to get the overall dimensions of whatever lead & coins you pull out of the ground. Nice to have around when you're really wanting to know what a particular bullet is.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[WHADIFIND]

Damn, I've checked my yard a little at a time over the last few years or so but nothing of note was found. Looks as if your yard is a substantially different story.

Just a FYI in case you've never looked into them before, you can get a decent digital micrometer for under $30. It won't be good enough to do formal engineering certifications, but it'll be plenty accurate enough to get the overall dimensions of whatever lead & coins you pull out of the ground. Nice to have around when you're really wanting to know what a particular bullet is.

Yep. I've been all over this yard and I'm no beginner. But, nothing much hinted at this. I know it's old enough. Must be that it's very, very deep. More research is in order.

About buying a caliper so I can make "very precise measurements"? To do what? So I can label it 10 years older than I thought? LOL
No thanks! 30 BUCKS!?!?! Even a lil less than that would be far too expensive! I can use that money for other minor things, like, oh I dunno, maybe food? LOL

If I find a bullet that I am interested enough in to figure out the details to an nth degree. I'll already know what it is before I share. LOL

I put it up to a CM ruler for as much detail as I have and care. I suspect there will be more than enough experts on here who can give me a pretty good guess with the "minimal" details I provide.

Thanks for your help and hints!

 

[markp]

nice digs

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Reasons why coin & relic-diggers and collectors should buy a Digital Caliper (which measures in 1/100th or 1/1,000th-inch):
1- Bullet identification. As little as .02-inch can make a difference in a bullet's ID (US or CS or foreign, civil war or postwar).
2- Coin identification. A nearly unreadable (or completely unreadable) coin can often be identified by its precisely measuring diameter and thickness.
3- Button identification. Being a kepi-sized, cuff, vest, coat, or overcoat-size size Military button affects its rarity and value. Also, precise measuring can help you recognize a Reproduction one -- or a civilian "Fashion" button imitation of an actual Military button.
4- Buckle identification. Main reason is that solid-cast copies of Original buckles will be a few 1/00ths-inch smaller than the Original, due to shrinkage of the molten metal as it cools. Also, repro stamped-brass buckles, boxplates, and breastplates often do not PRECISELY match the exact size of Originals. Also, Military School plates tend to be smaller than similar-emblem Military ones.
5- Artillery ball or civilian-usage ball? Harbor Freight's 6" Long-Reach caliper (price is $19, see the link below) enables you to super-precisely measure balls up to 5.75-inches in diameter. It will tell you whether the ball you are about to buy is a genuine Artillery ball or a worthless civilian-usage Mill-Ball, Sports Shot-Put, ball-bearing, tank-cleaner ball, or Ornamental Ironwork ball.
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
Please also read related information at SolidShotEssentialsMod

Very good quality Digital Calipers can now be bought for $15 to $19, at Harbor Freight Tools stores (or online at Search results for: 'caliper')
or on Ebay.

Any coin/relic digger-or-collector who is too cheap to pay $15 for CORRECTLY identifying bullets, coins, buttons, and buckles (and recognizing the Reproduction ones) deserves whatever misfortunes will result from refusing to use this very affordable (and repeatedly valuable) measuring tool.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Reasons why coin & relic-diggers and collectors should buy a Digital Caliper

All, excellent reasons. For someone who is a collector/buyer/seller/educator.

For those who are just enjoying the finding of their own little treasures, an unnecessary, even frivolous expense. Done, just to satisfy the egos of those who desire to pomp and circumstance, strut their life long ambition of thinking they're all that and wanting to force their own ideals down other peoples' throats.

Go buy something else! If you fit the mold!

But, if one wants to go out for a few hours and enjoy the outdoors, get some exercise and maybe even find a couple of nice things for their own amusement. Without the encumbrances of a scientific approach. (More than they already have afforded.)

Well THAT neanderthal and curse to the hobby is labeled in the light of: "Any coin/relic digger-or-collector who is too cheap to pay $15 for CORRECTLY identifying bullets, coins, buttons, and buckles (and recognizing the Reproduction ones) deserves whatever misfortunes..." blah, blah, blah.

And with that miscreant now aptly vilified, he can now be relegated to the cubby hole he's labeled to occupy and no longer deemed worthy of response.

If you want to buy more equipment so you can fill the requirements to be in this hobby, then, do so.

As for me? My friend's suggestions here and Blingie's consult is enough for me.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I said what my duty to the Relic Digging/Collecting Community compelled me to say.

I cannot count the number of times I've heard a relic digger and/or collector complain that he made a serious mistake of the kind which precise measuring would have prevented.

Way back when I was a newcomer to this hobby, a couple of oldtimer relic-digging experts took me under their wing and generously gave me enormously valuable advice. Some of it helped me avoid making serious mistakes. Ever since then, I've passed their wise advice on to other diggers. People are of course free to choose to disregard good advice... but life has a way of applying penalties for that. Choose wisely.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I said what my duty to the Relic Digging/Collecting Community compelled me to say.
Choose wisely.

As did I in response, speaking for those who still have fun with this "hobby". I consider myself a well entrenched member of the "Relic Digging/Collecting Community" and you do not need to speak for this member. Avoidance of "making serious mistakes" is well put, but it precludes there is a mistake to be made. The only mistake I can make is displaying my finds for me on the wrong shelf. If I say "Look here what I found a (fill in the blank). If I am in error on my identification, "someone" here will be absolutely sure to point it out. I'll be the one they can point at and feel better about themselves. I'll apologize for fuax-ing my pas and promptly move on.

If one is doing this for acclaim or profit, yes, by all means KNOW with what you're dealing. Get the tools/knowledge to safeguard and protect yourself from overspending when buying or under charging when selling. Spend hours researching the find so you can give chapter verse and whose gun barrel it came out of, so you can add that to the resume'.

But, if you're just going to share then put on a shelf or in a box. Be happy first! Save your money for batteries.

 

[Pointman]

Reasons why coin & relic-diggers and collectors should buy a Digital Caliper (which measures in 1/100th or 1/1,000th-inch):
1- Bullet identification. As little as .02-inch can make a difference in a bullet's ID (US or CS or foreign, civil war or postwar).
2- Coin identification. A nearly unreadable (or completely unreadable) coin can often be identified by its precisely measuring diameter and thickness.
3- Button identification. Being a kepi-sized, cuff, vest, coat, or overcoat-size size Military button affects its rarity and value. Also, precise measuring can help you recognize a Reproduction one -- or a civilian "Fashion" button imitation of an actual Military button.
4- Buckle identification. Main reason is that solid-cast copies of Original buckles will be a few 1/00ths-inch smaller than the Original, due to shrinkage of the molten metal as it cools. Also, repro stamped-brass buckles, boxplates, and breastplates often do not PRECISELY match the exact size of Originals. Also, Military School plates tend to be smaller than similar-emblem Military ones.
5- Artillery ball or civilian-usage ball? Harbor Freight's 6" Long-Reach caliper (price is $19, see the link below) enables you to super-precisely measure balls up to 5.75-inches in diameter. It will tell you whether the ball you are about to buy is a genuine Artillery ball or a worthless civilian-usage Mill-Ball, Sports Shot-Put, ball-bearing, tank-cleaner ball, or Ornamental Ironwork ball.
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
Please also read related information at SolidShotEssentialsMod

Very good quality Digital Calipers can now be bought for $15 to $19, at Harbor Freight Tools stores (or online at Search results for: 'caliper')
or on Ebay.

Any coin/relic digger-or-collector who is too cheap to pay $15 for CORRECTLY identifying bullets, coins, buttons, and buckles (and recognizing the Reproduction ones) deserves whatever misfortunes will result from refusing to use this very affordable (and repeatedly valuable) measuring tool.

You have some good information. I have the W. Reid Mckee and M.E. Mason Jr. book on CW projectiles, which is helpful but it still take experience in Iding projos.