Hopefully a rare Civil War Bullet!

[MawkusD]

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge about the following bullet? It has clearly been fired, because it has a scuff on the top. The bottom of the "bullet thing" is flat. Thanks for the help.

 

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[Steve in PA]

Unfortunately that is a modern black powder bullet.

 

[MawkusD]

Thanks.

 

[treblehunter]

I concur, it is a modern muzzy bullet. Welcome to the site, be patient, keep looking, keep posting. Best of luck to you!

 

[DigDug1]

I disagree that your bullet is a muzzloader bullet. I have been shooting muzzleloaders for over 20 years and I have never seen one that looks like that. I do believe that your bullet may be a modern slug from a shotgun though. I am not saying that I am the world authority on muzzleloading weapons but in my expereince, I have never seen one like that.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is absolutely a modern-era bullet, made for use by Blackpowder Muzzleloader rifle shooters. It is called a "Maxi-Ball" by its manufacturer, as shown in the photo below. You can buy them pre-made by that manufacturer, or buy a bulletmold from Lyman for casting your own (see the second photo, from an online catalog of Lyman molds).

I'll add a third photo, showing some various forms of Maxi-Ball bullets that come with a bore lubricant (called "bore butter") in their body-grooves.

I should mention, Maxi-Ball bullets are made in more than one caliber (as the third photo shows). I should also mention, Maxi-Ball bullets have existed since approximately the 1960s, so the ones we dig have had plenty of time to get some greyish/white-ish lead-patina on them.

I hope this post's information and the photos provide enough proof to forever settle any debate about what that version of bullet actually is, and the time-period they are from.

 

[gunsil]

Yep, fired a bunch of these back in the early 70s. Mine were .54 caliber, but I liked the hollow based minies better. Harder to cast the minies since the mold requires a special third piece to form the hollow base. Thousands of rounds of blackpowder slugs in the woods behind my place, some future MDer will probably come along and think they have found a battle site. The Colt .44 and .36 slugs my friends and I fired there were all cast in original colt molds and some fired from original Colt pistols, too, which will really confuse the matter.