Bullet with cross on it?

lostlake88

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Dec 2, 2007
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The Queen City
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Don't know the age of the bullet, but it was pretty common for CW soldiers to carve on bullets. Monty
 

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Hard to tell if that is a carved cross or not.

I used to carve crosses on .22's when I was a kid. Was told the bullet would open up more like a hollowpoint.
 

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It looks to be a civil war or earlier .69 round ball. It's hard to tell if the cross is carved or just accidental nicks. the flat side is where the sprue (excess lead from the mold) was cut off.
 

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Its for shooting Vampires and Werewolves! HAHAHA Make sure it's not silver!

Mike
 

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mick56 said:
Hard to tell if that is a carved cross or not.

I used to carve crosses on .22's when I was a kid. Was told the bullet would open up more like a hollowpoint.
Mick those were called dum-dum bullets, highly illegal to use, don't get caught with any.......NGE
 

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:read2:

Perhaps it's not a Bullet :P but a piece of a board game or something similar, I noticed it had a flat bottom :P as if it was meant to sit on something with out rolling of :)

SS
 

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Silver Searcher said:
:read2:

Perhaps it's not a Bullet :P but a piece of a board game or something similar, I noticed it had a flat bottom :P as if it was meant to sit on something with out rolling of :)

SS
As "V",said,the flat spot is where the sprue was cut off,its common
 

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"X" marks the spot? You should go back to the exact spot you dug it up at, dig a lot deeper, and there yer treasure be.......NGE
 

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Dumdum Bullet, a soft-nosed bullet that flattens out when it strikes its target. It inflicts a far more severe wound than a standard bullet with a hard point. The name comes from the British arsenal at Dumdum, near Calcutta, India, where such bullets were made in the 19th century. The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 banned the use of dumdum bullets in war. This also included any modifications to the bullet
that would cause additional fragmentation on impact. This ban is often confused with being from the Geneva convention. There is no leagal issues for putting Xs in
for personal use.

As for your X on your bullet, I have no idea.
 

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stetson said:
Dumdum Bullet, a soft-nosed bullet that flattens out when it strikes its target. It inflicts a far more severe wound than a standard bullet with a hard point. The name comes from the British arsenal at Dumdum, near Calcutta, India, where such bullets were made in the 19th century. The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 banned the use of dumdum bullets in war. This also included any modifications to the bullet
that would cause additional fragmentation on impact. This ban is often confused with being from the Geneva convention. There is no leagal issues for putting Xs in
for personal use.

As for your X on your bullet, I have no idea.

WHAT????Its called a sprue!Its where the mold sprout was clipped off!All hand molded musket/pistol balls have them :thumbsup:
 

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The "cross" is mighty perfect geometrically speaking, if it is indeed accidental. Very cool and intriguing find! :thumbsup:

Great hunting and good luck!! Skypilot
 

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I have found many mid to larger caliber round bullets with "X's" on them. Sharpshooters were very particular about their bullets. To get the absolute best accuracy they wanted to be sure the ball was oriented the same way shot after shot. So, they often would cut or grind off the sprue and put an X on the bullet. In the dark they could feel the X and be sure to load it correctly.

round ball.jpg


Best Wishes,


Buckles
 

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Great info,Buckles.Sharpshooters are inherently superstitious as well :thumbsup:
 

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kuger said:
Silver Searcher said:
:read2:

Perhaps it's not a Bullet :P but a piece of a board game or something similar, I noticed it had a flat bottom :P as if it was meant to sit on something with out rolling of :)

SS
As "V",said,the flat spot is where the sprue was cut off,its common
Strange never had one with the sprue cut of so neat like that :icon_scratch: then again I have only found a couple of thousand :laughing7:

SS
 

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Spooky said:
stetson said:
Dumdum Bullet, a soft-nosed bullet that flattens out when it strikes its target. It inflicts a far more severe wound than a standard bullet with a hard point. The name comes from the British arsenal at Dumdum, near Calcutta, India, where such bullets were made in the 19th century. The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 banned the use of dumdum bullets in war. This also included any modifications to the bullet
that would cause additional fragmentation on impact. This ban is often confused with being from the Geneva convention. There is no leagal issues for putting Xs in
for personal use.

As for your X on your bullet, I have no idea.

Exactly.


I see a lot of erroneous and "mythical" information that relates to this, and it is often skewed and muddled with Hollywood info and "experts" who have never fired a gun in the first place, getting their info from the internet and TV, or those who honestly don't know any better or "heard it from a guy".

And I see that Buckleboy is spot on with his info, crosses were often cut into sharpshooter bullets to ensure proper orientation by feel.
I have also seen and read accounts of of bullets being marked for amateur "competition" and scheutzen use, so the 'closest' ball could be determined in a "target"
Very interesting imformation, but the one posted seems to have more than one mark on it :icon_scratch:

SS
 

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Silver Searcher said:
kuger said:
Silver Searcher said:
:read2:

Perhaps it's not a Bullet :P but a piece of a board game or something similar, I noticed it had a flat bottom :P as if it was meant to sit on something with out rolling of :)

SS
As "V",said,the flat spot is where the sprue was cut off,its common
Strange never had one with the sprue cut of so neat like that :icon_scratch: then again I have only found a couple of thousand :laughing7:

SS
Regardless what I say you will disagree....you make a fool of your self.You are going to say you have dug a thousand of them and dont have a sprue cut off like that?C'mon,you flatter me that you would put your good name out there like that just to thorn me!I love it! :headbang:Maybe this bullet maker was anal!!!Oh,yea,I have a couple hundred that do have spru cut offs just like it!I do not have one with an "X", though,thats cool!!
 

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Spooky said:
stetson said:
Dumdum Bullet, a soft-nosed bullet that flattens out when it strikes its target. It inflicts a far more severe wound than a standard bullet with a hard point. The name comes from the British arsenal at Dumdum, near Calcutta, India, where such bullets were made in the 19th century. The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 banned the use of dumdum bullets in war. This also included any modifications to the bullet
that would cause additional fragmentation on impact. This ban is often confused with being from the Geneva convention. There is no leagal issues for putting Xs in
for personal use.

As for your X on your bullet, I have no idea.

Exactly.


I see a lot of erroneous and "mythical" information that relates to this, and it is often skewed and muddled with Hollywood info and "experts" who have never fired a gun in the first place, getting their info from the internet and TV, or those who honestly don't know any better or "heard it from a guy".

And I see that Buckleboy is spot on with his info, crosses were often cut into sharpshooter bullets to ensure proper orientation by feel.
I have also seen and read accounts of of bullets being marked for amateur "competition" and scheutzen use, so the 'closest' ball could be determined in a "target"
So........are you saying you agree with that rubbish??
 

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Spooky said:
kuger said:
So........are you saying you agree with that rubbish??

I see that you are obviously a very angry person, and looking to argue.
Look it up.
My information comes from years of firearm and historical preservation perspective and first hand experience, not from the internet, TV and books.
Bait someone else, I ain't bitin'.
:icon_thumright:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet
No not angry,just happen to know what I am talking about.I am not like you in that I do know what I know from experience and find it laughable that you take a jab at me about reading my info off the net,yet paste a link for info!!!!
 

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