Shotgun chain shot?

Gypsy Heart

Gypsy Heart

Gold Member
Nov 29, 2005
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Ozarks
I was hunting the Old Wire Road this week and focusing on an grove of oaks that overlooked a civil war encampment.....I found a strange item that I cannot identify .....I am so sorry I have no picture as my camera is on the blink....but its two tiny iron balls connected together by two links of chain.....actually looks like a miniature chain shot from a cannon...the entire relic is about 1 inch long and each iron ball is about a little smaller than a marble....I will try to get a pic up as soon as possible ,but in the meantime...any ideas? :icon_scratch:
This property I am hunting is private and very remote and I know for a fact that it was heavily traveled by the soldiers and bushwackers ...there has been no one on this particle spot for years.......I found the item about fifty feet off the wire road.....
 

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Gypsy Heart said:
I was hunting the Old Wire Road this week and focusing on an grove of oaks that overlooked a civil war ecampment.....I found a strange item that I cannot identify .....I am so sorry I have no picture as my camera is on the blink....but its two tiny iron balls connected together by two links of chain.....actually looks like a miniature chain shot from a cannon...the entire relic is about 1 inch long and each iron ball is about a little smaller than a marble....I will try to get a pic up as soon as possible ,but in the meantime...any ideas? :icon_scratch:
This property I am hunting is private and very remote and I know for a fact that it was heavily traveled by the soldiers and bushwackers ...there has been no one on this particle spot for years.......I found the item about fifty feet off the wire road.....
Click to expand...
Sounds like a experimental ball and chain for a musket. It might be cuff links also. La Beep
 

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I'm no expert but I've never heard of small caliber chain shot. I've hunted several spots on and along the Old Wire Road as have several of my friends. I've never seen anything like that found there. Maybe it is an "experimental" load. I can't see cufflinks being made of iron.
 

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Whatever it is, it sounds pretty interesting. . . if you're able to get a fairly
accurate measurement of the balls' diameter, it may help if it's ordnance related.

Glad to hear you finally have some free time to hunt :thumbsup:

Take care,
watercolor
 

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The measurements would help.
It sounds interesting and so does your sight!!!
I know you know how lucky you are to hunt places like that.
 

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dkw said:
I'm no expert but I've never heard of small caliber chain shot. I've hunted several spots on and along the Old Wire Road as have several of my friends. I've never seen anything like that found there. Maybe it is an "experimental" load. I can't see cufflinks being made of iron.
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Think of the damage it would do to a line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder before they took cover.
And they would also make noise in flight that would scare the p*** out of anybody.
 

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Hi Gypsy:

You might have a cloak or cape clasp. I have seen some that look like what you described.

Les
 

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La Beep said:
Think of the damage it would do to a line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder before they took cover.
And they would also make noise in flight that would scare the p*** out of anybody.
Click to expand...

I don't think it would do much damage to anyone besides the first in line. A iron ball the size of a marble would have a very poor sectional density for a projectile. Think of all the high dollar tungsten type shotgun shells for waterfowl hunters. Lead is illegal and steel sucks so badly that many hunters are willing to pay big money for each pull of the trigger just to avoid steel shot. A piece of chain between two iron balls that small would hardly seem effective as a projectile. I would guess it to be severely lacking in penetration and any sort of accuracy for aimed fire.

I will agree though, the sound alone might have been a great psychological weapon. ;D
 

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dkw said:
La Beep said:
Think of the damage it would do to a line of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder before they took cover.
And they would also make noise in flight that would scare the p*** out of anybody.
Click to expand...

I don't think it would do much damage to anyone besides the first in line. A iron ball the size of a marble would have a very poor sectional density for a projectile. Think of all the high dollar tungsten type shotgun shells for waterfowl hunters. Lead is illegal and steel sucks so badly that many hunters are willing to pay big money for each pull of the trigger just to avoid steel shot. A piece of chain between two iron balls that small would hardly seem effective as a projectile. I would guess it to be severely lacking in penetration and any sort of accuracy for aimed fire.

I will agree though, the sound alone might have been a great psychological weapon. ;D
Click to expand...
If it was a type of experimental ammo I think it would have been more for psychological reasons. One I agree that it would not penetrate very deep as a lead ball would do, but it would wound the soldier with a nasty little wound. Two wounded soldiers make screaming noises. Three as I said it probity would make some type of noise in flight. As far as steel bullets not being very effective I know that soft steel bullets was used by both the Italians and the Japanese during WW2 with great success.

But I still go with my second guess.
 

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When I was in service one of the favorite heavy shotgun loads used was a slug with a hole drilled through it,
Cut in half and a braided wire threaded through the two pieces. tie a knot in both ends of the wire and coil the wire between the two short round (connected now) slugs.
When leaving the barrel it would uncoil and spread, and at short range was a very unfriendly thing to see.
They are only affective at very short range though and loose velocity very quickly.

You may have found something similar.

Thom
 

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I dont think this it what you have but I thought it was of interest to this topic. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/glevumdetecting/index.htm look under English Civil War.
dumbell.jpg They call it a dumbell.

Joined pair of lead musket balls (Dumbell) from site of Civil War skirmish 1643.

Taynton.
 

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Gypsy Heart said:
....but its two tiny iron balls connected together by two links of chain..... the entire relic is about 1 inch long and each iron ball is about a little smaller than a marble....
Click to expand...


In an attempt to maintain the decorum of this board, I will try to dumb-down my response:


I have seen a few of these on "certain" websites catering to those who desire a more "painful" type of jewelry for their wild adventures.


Surely, there was none with those "tastes" living during the Civil War... ;D
 

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Arizona Bob said:
In an attempt to maintain the decorum of this board, I will try to dumb-down my response:
Click to expand...
Now why would you want to do that? ;D
 

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