I wonder if there is any way to determine the time period of a lead bullet by information from the lead metal it was cast from?
I have a bullet mold for both round ball for my 45 cal. flintlock and a mini ball mold for my brother's 50 cal. But how can one tell the recently cast bullets from those cast over a century ago? Some lead bullets will take on a 'white' patina after spending a lot of time in the ground, but I think this may depend on the chemistry of the ground rather than that of the bullet. Does anyone know if there was a particular alloy that was used way back then? I think that for Revolutionary round ball, the lead is supposed to be soft, and therefore mostly PURE lead rather than an alloy containing antimony or zinc or anything else to give it a harder structure, since the round ball has to 'grip' the rifling with the patch. Pure lead is soft and can easily take an imprint, I have personally seen the imprint on some of my bullets retrieved after fireing, and they showed the imprint of the cloth weave where the bullet squeezed against the lands of the barrel.