bullet ID?

[RJH02]

Hi, I got a short hunt in just before the rain today and found this bullet. Can anyone ID it for me? It is just under 1 in long and exactly a half in wide. It has a flat bottom and you can barely see some rings of some type and it weighs 1 oz.Thanks.

 

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[Monty]

A half inch would be a .50 caliber and it would weigh 437 grains according to the conversion chart. Bullets are weighed by grains for some reason. I can't make out the grooves very well and they would offer a big clue as to what era it in which it was fired, which makes a difference in what it might be....clear as mud? The flat base incates it is probably a cartridge bullet, post Civil War I'm thinking. My best guess would be a handloaded .45/70 (not quite a half inch), but it could be any of several buffalo hunting era cartridges such as 50/100, etc. The bullet is a bit light in weight for one of those big boomers though. Monty

 

[Monty]

I changed the picture little bit to get a better look at the groves in it. It looks like two crimping groves rather than having grease grooves. They make a .44 Mag bullet like that but it is jacketed. It isn't jacketed perchance is it? Monty

It looks like a cast bullet with the longitudinal line along the side where the two halves of the molding blocks meet? I'm not having much luck on these old cast bullets as there are just too many possibilities. Monty

 

[RJH02]

Thanks Monty. I dont think it is jacketed.Is it?

 

[johnreb1980]

Do the lines or grooves go all the way around it? From the pic Monty fixed up, it doesn't look like they do. The lines could be cold pour lines. The only bullet that comes to mind if these are not grooves is the solid base .54cal Greene carbine bullet also known as the solid base enfield. Here is a link to a picture of one. Jonathon

http://www.southronrelics.com/images/solidbaseenfield_100407.jpg

 

[relichunters]

Great find man!

 

[Monty]

jonathona, I don't think the two are the same bullet. That doesn't look like grease groves to me, but crimping grooves. I could be wrong with out seeing both sides of the bullet. Monty

 

[RJH02]

The rings do go all around it,also the forging mark runs up both sides of it. Thanks for the replies.

 

[stoney56]

Maybe a .50-90 Sharps or the lesser .50-70?

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/printitem.cfm?ItemNum=8336185

 

[Monty]

I'd have to go along with stoney's assessment. I believe it definately was one of the bigbore or so called buffalo guns. Monty

 

[johnreb1980]

I would agree after seeing a better pic. It kinda looks like a Richmond lab Sharps bullet to some degree. Jonathon