found musket ball. caliber question and age??

[hollowpointred]

i found a musket ball the other day in the woods about 4 inches down. it is oxidized white, is not pefectly round and is about 3/4" across. does anyone know how to figure the calabre of this shot and guess the aproximate age?

 

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[JakePhelps]

A divider and ruler and caliber chart.

 

[lonewolfe]

3/4 in. sounds like a .45 cal to me (not positive though).

cool find,

hh

lonewolfe

 

[SomeGuy]

3/4 in. sounds like a .45 cal to me (not positive though).

cool find,

hh

lonewolfe

Check your math, 3/4=.75

 

[Crutch]

The round balls i have found are .645 Slightly smaller than the 58 cal mini balls. I posted a couple in today's find RE: Things I'm thankful for if you want a reference.

 

[hasbeen]

The British used .75 caliber muskets from the early 1700s thru the Revolutionary War.I believe most of the Patriot's muskets were .72 caliber.

No way to guess the age unless it was found with an object that could be dated.

hasbeen

 

[Klaatu]

Someguy is right. Caliber is the diameter of the projectile in inches. So a .22 is 0.22", a .38 is 0.38" and a .45 is 0.45" in diameter. You can use calipers to measure caliber.

 

[RevJoel]

Crown forces, using the Short Land Brown Bess Musket normally were equiped with ball that ranged from .69 cal to .72. The small the ball size the easier to load when the bore was full of black powder fouling. The "standard" Whig Committee of Safety Musket was patterned after the French Charrleyville Musket at .69 cal, and they would load between an .62 and a .66 ball.

Pax Christi
Rev. Joel+

Reenacting the War of Rebellion for 30 years, last 25 as a Loyalist! God save the King!

 

[Tourezrick]

I was a living history re-enactor long ago, and shot a flintlock "trade gun" that used a .72 cal. roundball. It is most likely, however, that being from Delaware, your find is from a "Brown Bess". Unless you possess a "Wayback Machine" and can go back in time, you'll never know for sure. Does the ball show any obvious deformation to it? If so, it could be a through and through, otherwise, probably a miss. Lastly, if from a Bess, in British hands, there may be others about, volley shooting.

Akacita mahnee yo!

Tourezrick

 

[WyDiablo]

They also used a .69 Cal smooth bore ball also.

WyDiablo

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI weigh it or check it's specific gravity against known balls. Tniswworks nicely for deformed ones especially.

Tropical Tramp el Tinker