Brown Crud on my Balls...

[Swartzie]

Brown crud on my rifle balls that is

The lead balls I dig around my neck of the woods all have this brown crud covering them. Some of the crud will flake off, but most of it is attached to the ball. Anyone else recover lead balls like this? I have read that the tanic acid in oak trees will turn lead balls brown so maybe that's what it is. There's plenty of oak trees where I hunt.

Since we're on the topic of lead balls: Does anyone know the caliber of buckshot that was used with the old .69 caliber ball in a buck and ball combination?

-Swartzie

 

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[Iron Patch]

Our musket balls here tend to come out clean but have seen the hard brown crud on lead, and other metals too. I don't know what it is (or more why it can get so hard), but sure takes some effort to get off.

 

[{Sentinel}]

Brown crud on my rifle balls that is

The lead balls I dig around my neck of the woods all have this brown crud covering them. Some of the crud will flake off, but most of it is attached to the ball. Anyone else recover lead balls like this? I have read that the tanic acid in oak trees will turn lead balls brown so maybe that's what it is. There's plenty of oak trees where I hunt.

Since we're on the topic of lead balls: Does anyone know the caliber of buckshot that was used with the old .69 caliber ball in a buck and ball combination?

-Swartzie

Yes, its just hardened dirt from being in the ground for so long...the lead interacts with the dirt causing a sort of "dirt patina." Also, yes Oaks and other trees' leaves can cause this "dirt patina" to become harder and darker in many cases. Almost every single musketball or Minieball that I dig here in Virginia comes out looking like yours as well.
As for the caliber of the pellets. There was no uniform size. Buck shot pellets of different sizes were used but usually nothing larger than OO or OOO pellets. The Musketball, when combined with the buckshot, provided for a much higher hit ratio. Nice finds!

P.S. A good way to tell if they are Civil War or Older is that newer buckshot is usually made from steel or other metals, whereas the Older buckshot from the 17 and 1800s were made from lead.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Brown crud on my rifle balls that is

The lead balls I dig around my neck of the woods all have this brown crud covering them. Some of the crud will flake off, but most of it is attached to the ball. Anyone else recover lead balls like this? I have read that the tanic acid in oak trees will turn lead balls brown so maybe that's what it is. There's plenty of oak trees where I hunt.

Since we're on the topic of lead balls: Does anyone know the caliber of buckshot that was used with the old .69 caliber ball in a buck and ball combination?

-Swartzie

Yes, its just hardened dirt from being in the ground for so long...the lead interacts with the dirt causing a sort of "dirt patina." Also, yes Oaks and other trees' leaves can cause this "dirt patina" to become harder and darker in many cases. Almost every single musketball or Minieball that I dig here in Virginia comes out looking like yours as well.
As for the caliber of the pellets. There was no uniform size. Buck shot pellets of different sizes were used but usually nothing larger than OO or OOO pellets. The Musketball, when combined with the buckshot, provided for a much higher hit ratio. Nice finds!

P.S. A good way to tell if they are Civil War or Older is that newer buckshot is usually made from steel or other metals, whereas the Older buckshot from the 17 and 1800s were made from lead.

Spot on Josh...it can be a real pain in the rear to remove from Roman Bronze coins

SS

 

[jeff of pa]

in my opinion it's definately
nothing you want to clean off.

if you clean them up to look new

then you have new shot.

 

[Lucas]

Since we're on the topic of lead balls: Does anyone know the caliber of buckshot that was used with the old .69 caliber ball in a buck and ball combination?

-Swartzie

Around .32

The letter sizes have changed over time, so that doesn't help much.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Sorry, but what did your post read?

 

[traderoftreasures]

in my opinion it's definately
nothing you want to clean off.

if you clean them up to look new

then you have new shot.

If i had brown crud on my balls would leave it too...makes em worth more

 

[ivan salis]

lead does not rust like iron as it breaks down over time -- instead it "oxidizes " making a whitish coating known as "patina"-- iron in the soil or acid leeching from the fallen rotting leafs of trees (tannin) will mix in with the oxidized film coating of the lead balls --staining them --its a natural part of their historical "patina" and to strip it off makes the bullets look like fresh made ones -- thus messing up their collectors value --however if you are not going to sell em ever --do aas you like with em --if you ever try to sell em, however the crud stain needs to say on em.

 

[Monty]

The only contemporary steel shot I am aware of is that loaded in shotgun shells for waterfowl hunting and it is rather smaller, usually no bigger than #2. Steel shot is only recommended for new special hardened steel barrels as it tends to rapidly erode the older shotgun barrels. Antimony is now the preferred shot for water fowling but it is comparily expensive. Lead shot was outlawed for hunting game birds in the USA several years ago except for doves as far as I know. There was steel canister shot loaded in the Civil war, but it was much larger. The shot you found really isn't worth much except for it's historical interest, but I would not clean it too much just for appearance sake. Monty

 

[JRich98150]

"Brown Crud on my Balls..." I think I'd be hauling myself to the doctor's office real quick.


JRich

 

[TomB]

Swartzie..over the past three weeks I have recovered 21 musket balls from a old home site in Virginia. Eight of those musket balls were found in a wooded area. All eight looked exactly like those you are holding. The remainder were recovered in the open field. I cleaned all the musket balls with a toothbrush and Joy . Most of the dirt was removed leaving the white "patina". HH TomB

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

"Brown Crud on my Balls..." I think I'd be hauling myself to the doctor's office real quick.


JRich

Or pay more attention wiping if going back to front....

lol front to back will solve the problem. yuk

 

[ivan salis]

a bit under 50 cal (1/2 inch in dia) --say maybe they are 44 cal pistol balls?