Civil war "bullet" help...

DirtyMike

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Feb 10, 2009
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Civil war "bullet" help...

Not sure about this one. I have dug a couple of these now. For size comparison the bullet next to it is a 58 cal. 3 ringer. It reads lead on the machine and looks to be lead. Maybe its not a bullet at all and if not then what? It was found in a rather large camp in the middle of nowhere. :icon_scratch:
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

I would call this one a bullet.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

What type would it have been?
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Can you post a pic of the tip?
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

IronSpike said:
Can you post a pic of the tip?

Here are some more picture. The top is round.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

It seems to be a shotgun slug to me. Late 1800s. Doubtful Civil War relic, but still a great find!! :thumbsup:
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Monty will be here shortly :thumbsup: Shotgun slug, but still appear to have some good age to it.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Yes it does, but i've seen plenty of Civil War shotgun slugs before, but this one doesn't look exactly like them which leads me to believe its not from the Civil War.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Sofaman36 said:
Yes it does, but i've seen plenty of Civil War shotgun slugs before, but this one doesn't look exactly like them which leads me to believe its not from the Civil War.

See what I mean? It doesn't have the tail piece. Does it appear to be broken anywhere on the base?
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

You're right Sofaman36 that it's different to the CW example you posted. Noticed other CW examples and all of those also different. I'm not saying it is CW era bullet, however would guess it could date pretty close.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Actually WAIT!!! It could be Civil War. It me be one of these with the bottom part broken off. Idk, but the body of the bullet looks extremely similar!!! And about the same size also.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Sofaman36 said:
Hope I helped! :thumbsup:

Yep all inputs are helpful. Bullet/slug it is :wink: I bet the bullet 'experts' will have hard time with exact ID :D
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Here's Monty! Actually I have much more expertise, if you can call it that, in modern munitions. That meaning post Civil War, late black powder and into smokeless era. I would concour that it probably is a slug. I see no rifling marks or groves to hold lube, a flat nose and a hollow base which is characteristic of a slug. I can't even guess very close at the age. Too many variables. Many CSA soldiers volunteered and brought their own weapons, whatever had been hanging above the fireplace. I'm sure many were shotguns and I'm sure many had home cast slugs. This particular slug style hasn't changed much since before the Civil War and persists even until today. After smokeless powder they bacame "rifled slugs", grooves cut into them to impart spin in a smoothe bore. (No evidence that it ever worked as designed however). But this sample has no obvious rifled grooves. So my best guess would be it was of the black powder era, sometime before the Civil War up until the early 1900s. That covers a lot of time! Monty
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Sofaman36 said:
Actually WAIT!!! It could be Civil War. It me be one of these with the bottom part broken off. Idk, but the body of the bullet looks extremely similar!!! And about the same size also.
That's a shaler bullet I believe and I own one of those. Its too big for that.
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Thanks everyone! And Monty, I did find some enfield bullets, flat buttons, & other odd and end possible confederate relics. Has anyone else found any of these before?
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

I've seen a ton or so of Confederate artifacts posted on Tnet over the past 4 years. Thousands of various kinds of bullets and even slugs similar to this one has been posted here. Knowing what general area it was found in and what other artifacts were found nearby or with it really helps in an ID. Go back and read some of the old posts about bullets and CW things. I've really learned a lot here on Tnet. Monty
 

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Re: Civil war "bullet" help...

Monty said:
I've seen a ton or so of Confederate artifacts posted on Tnet over the past 4 years. Thousands of various kinds of bullets and even slugs similar to this one has been posted here. Knowing what general area it was found in and what other artifacts were found nearby or with it really helps in an ID. Go back and read some of the old posts about bullets and CW things. I've really learned a lot here on Tnet. Monty

It was found in Maryland. Near Maryland Heights.
 

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