✅ SOLVED 52 Caliber bullet ID

[TNGUNS]

Would sure appreciate a little help on this one.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

I tend to be hesitant about posting an ID for "oddball" bullets like yours, because examining such a bullet in real-life is far superior than making a guess based on photos. (Even photos as well-done as yours.)

That being said... because your .527-inch-diameter minie has what seems to be a typical conical cavity, and (especially) its base-rim is "unusually" thick and is ROUNDED-EDGED, I think it is what we civil war bullet diggers call a "cut-off" bullet. In other words, I think your bullet originally had the usual three grooves/rings, and a soldier very precisely "shaved off" the lowest of the three grooves. Think about it. If that's what a soldier did to a 3-groove minie, what would the result of his carving look like? Missing its lowest groove section, the minie's base would look "unusually" thick.

 

[TNGUNS]

Get what you are saying Cannonball. Hard to say on this one.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Because there are so many errors n the McKee-&-Mason bullet book, it is my secondary choice for bullet ID. My primary choice is the Thomas-&-Thomas book... "A Handbook of Civil War Bullets & Cartridges." The Handbook does show a cone-cavity minie (T&T-137A) which is very similar to the shape and size (.527"-diameter) of your minie. But the T&T photo seems to show a typical thin base-rim, instead of "unusually thick" like on your minie. So, I discounted T&T-137A as a match.

But let's do a further check. T&T-137A's length is .96-inch. Length is the only important piece of ID-info missing in your excellently descriptive photographic post. What is the precisely-measured length of your minie?

 

[TNGUNS]

Seems a little short. I greatly appreciate your help.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I'm pleased to be of assistance to my fellow diggers in riddling out the correct ID of their finds.

I think your bullet's .91-inch length pretty well settles the question... it is a cut-off minie. If you own a copy of the McKee-&-Mason book, examine the photos of bullet #300, which the book says is a cut-off minie. You'll notice its base-rim is "unusually thick" and its length is .930-inch.

Just for the sake of giving "fully-correct" ID, I should mention that because your minie is a Muzzleloader bullet, its .527"-diameter means it is a .54 caliber rifle bullet, not a .52 caliber.

(For any readers here who don't already know... civil war era (and earlier) Muzzleloader bullets were always slightly smaller in diameter than the gun's caliber, and Breechloader bullets were slightly larger than the gun's caliber.)

 

[TNGUNS]

U da man Cannonball. Thanks