Cut Lead true or false

[Alan Payne]

Hello all, I found these items at an old church that was said to have been a Union barracks during the Civil War. My question is are these cut pieces of lead really something that one could associate with Civil War relics like the Musket Balls found. I have seen some evidence that cut pieces of lead have been found on battlefields. I also watched a video of someone performing ballistics testing on the subject. I guess what I'm missing is more proof that these things did exist during war time necessities. Can anyone confirm cut lead?

 

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[Davers]

This is just a guess right off the top of my head.

Your cut lead pieces could be anything & telling just how old they are is tuff . Did the Round balls come from the Same Site ?
Also what Caliber do you think they are?
I also wonder do the lead pieces weigh the same or Very close to the same ie, a few grains / grams .?

They could have been made to crimp something closed.

Were these items found in water or in a wet area?

IMO , if you answer these questions that will get you started on an ID.

Also post these in the 'What is it ' forum , you will get many more views/opinions.
GL

 

[Alan Payne]

Yes, All the round balls came from the same site. I don't know what caliber the Balls are, Do I just measure the Diameter to tell?
No, they were not found in water or in a wet area.
Yes, the lead pieces weigh very close to the same as well as close to the same as the lead balls.

Thank you for the info and the help.

 

[Davers]

Yes, All the round balls came from the same site. I don't know what caliber the Balls are, Do I just measure the Diameter to tell?
No, they were not found in water or in a wet area.
Yes, the lead pieces weigh very close to the same as well as close to the same as the lead balls.

Thank you for the info and the help.

Sorry for my delayed response, not for sore but IMO the cut Lead could have been used to cast the Round-Ball's .

Nailing down a 5-10 year time frame is the hard part . IMO
Keep a huntin & GL

 

[Alan Payne]

I finally got around to measuring the round Balls and they measured .665, which I learned were actually for a .69 cal. smooth bore musket. I also learned that most Union troops were probably issued rifled muskets. I think I read that a rifled musket fired a smaller cal. ball. So, I can assume these .69 cal. balls were probably from Confederate troops that were less supplied than the Union troops and were more likely to pull out the old musket from a time before 1855. I think 1855 was about the last time Smooth bore muskets were produced. By the way one of the balls did measure slightly smaller .645 or .66. I think this would still be in the range for .69 cal. weapon. About a month ago I found my first three ringer. I measured it to be .575 which is for a 58 cal. most likely Union. I really can't say about the round balls, but the city of Palatka, Florida has a long history and Rolles town was just across the river, established in 1767 or something like that. Ft. Shannon was built in Palatka in 1838, during the Second Seminole War era. Just a bit of references to the possibility of these round balls being from any time frame of the Smooth bore weapon era of the United States.

 

[Tnmountains]

Possibly a lead seal and crimped or hammered.?