What a fun day. bullet update!

xmarks73 · Jul 12, 2011

I have been greedy for the oldies and have only been going to spots that had potential for old items. I was a lil dry on locations today so, I decided to hit a tot lot today. I had a blast! I dug a car collection. the cars were scattered all over the park. I love digging cars so, it was fun. I found my 1st silver ring of the year. My wife took it fast though. $:-\$ lol. I found an 1899 IH that was about 10" deep. I was extremely surprised! Found a large shell that I am not sure what it is or how old it is. Anyone have a clue? Thanks for looking everyone. :hello2:

chukers · Jul 13, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

several weeks ago I dug 8 or 9 in one hole! I think I got a total of 12 in the one yard... I bet there is more there.

Chukers

tsabeach · Jul 13, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

Looks like fun! Congrats on the silver ring and deep IH also :icon_thumright:

Mike from MI · Jul 13, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

Nice haul my friend! :icon_thumleft:

fistfulladirt · Jul 13, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

Open a used car lot! Wow! Congrats on the ring too, good hunt!

Michiganne · Jul 13, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

Looks like fun to me. :icon_thumleft:

Nice IH and ring, too. I like the Eisenhower token. :hello2:

HH

postalgriff · Jul 14, 2011

Re: What a fun day. dug a car collection today, yeas a collection. lol

nice score on the used car lot.....and the deep IH that was a surprise!....always great pulling a sterling ring too, well done :thumbsup:

xmarks73 · Jul 15, 2011

Re: What a fun day. bullet update!

Here is some info that I picked up off the what is it cat. on my shell in the pic.

BigCypressHunter wrote:
> How rare a find is this? This is the first one I have seen and a great ID.

Coming from a What-Is-It veteran as knowledgeable as you, that is a high compliment. Thank you.

How rare a find? Well, that depends on whether you mean the model-1882 Maynard cartridge found by Xmarks73, or the civil war era version in the Wikipedia photo you posted. (By the way, I hope you noticed that it shows no grooves encircling the exposed part of the lead slug ...unlike the 1882-model.) For the sake of discussion, I'll assume your question refers to the civil war era model.

Civil War era ones are rare, but not quite "extremely" rare. That's because -- as the Wikipedia article mentioned -- not many Maynard Breechloaders were issued to troops, in comparison to the tens-of-thousands (or even hundreds-of-thousands) of other rifles, such as the Springfield, Enfield, Sharps, Spencer, etc.

Enhancing the rarity situation, in a way, is the fact that the cartridge's gunpowder charge causes it to corrode to bits. The majority of unfired-and-INTACT Maynard cartridges we dig are no longer intact by the time we get them out of the ground. Even a "decent" one looks like what Xmarks73 found.

Judging the rarity of Xmarks73's unfired model-1882 Maynard cartridge is difficult. I can only say that it is definitely more rare than a civil war era one, for two reasons:
1- The US Army purchased hundreds-of-thousands of rounds of Maynard ammo during the civil war ...and I doubt that Civilian game-hunters purchased anywhere near that much.
2- Civilian game-hunters are actually more careful about not losing bullets than soldiers are. Unlike game-hunters, soldiers don't have to purchase their ammo with money out of their own pocket ...and thus they are notoriously wasteful.