✅ SOLVED Hrlp Please With Information on This Bullet

[Metdet49]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone can tell me anything about this lead bullet I dug the other day like approx. year, caliber, etc. I posted it on Today's Finds forum but didn't get any response. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. I have dug musket balls but this is my first bullet.
It is about 1" long and is 5/8" diameter at the base.

 

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[smokeythecat]

Looks like a Civil War picket style bullet. Used in old hunting rifles.

 

[Metdet49]

Looks like a Civil War picket style bullet. Used in old hunting rifles.

Thanks for the response smokey. Since it was found in the side yard of a late 1700's-early 1800's house here in upstate NY near Albany it may be for an old hunting rifle.
I'll see if anyone else has anything to add. Thanks again.

 

[fyrffytr1]

Can you please post a few more pictures taken at different angles. especially one of the base? Also, you need to give us as accurate as possible measurements in order to get a better ID on your bullet.

 

[Metdet49]

Can you please post a few more pictures taken at different angles. especially one of the base? Also, you need to give us as accurate as possible measurements in order to get a better ID on your bullet.

The top is a little bent over and the base is at an angle but on the "long" side it is 1" and on the "short" side it is 15/16". The bas diameter is 5/8". Here are some addl pics.

 

[Tedyoh]

Odd for sure, never seen a bullet deform like that, it almost looks like the base hit something hard first, actually what may have happened is it started tumbling, either from a ricochet or a worn barrel, then who knows what or how it hit and came to rest....

 

[DirtyPockects]

Odd for sure, never seen a bullet deform like that, it almost looks like the base hit something hard first, actually what may have happened is it started tumbling, either from a ricochet or a worn barrel, then who knows what or how it hit and came to rest....

Tumbling would explain why the pointed end is no longer centered.

 

[Metdet49]

Tumbling would explain why the pointed end is no longer centered.

Thanks for the responses Tedyoh and Dirty Pockets. I think your tumbling explanation is a good one, I hadn't considered that. I know they made lead bullets for a very long time but is there any way to get an approx. time period for this one?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Metdet49, you said the base measures 5/8" (.625") in diameter. in your photo showing the bullet's flat bottom, it looks like it's a bit out-of-round. Is it? If so, was the 5/8" measurement at the widest?

I'm asking because I'm unaware of a 1700s/1800s gun-caliber that matchs up with a .625-inch.

You asked about the bullet's time-period. Before the mid-1800s, all bullets were a ball. Also, pure-lead (not a hardened lead-alloy) bullets which are bigger than .50-inch almost entirely "went away" by the late-1800s. Putting those two facts together, your bullet is from the mid-1800s to late-1800s.

 

[Metdet49]

Metdet49, you said the base measures 5/8" (.625") in diameter. in your photo showing the bullet's flat bottom, it looks like it's a bit out-of-round. Is it? If so, was the 5/8" measurement at the widest?

I'm asking because I'm unaware of a 1700s/1800s gun-caliber that matchs up with a .625-inch.

You asked about the bullet's time-period. Before the mid-1800s, all bullets were a ball. Also, pure-lead (not a hardened lead-alloy) bullets which are bigger than .50-inch almost entirely "went away" by the late-1800s. Putting those two facts together, your bullet is from the mid-1800s to late-1800s.

Thanks for the info CannonballGuy. The 5/8" is the measurement across different parts of the base which appears to be symmetrical. That being said, if it did tumble and struck an object base first it could have flattened it somewhat making my measurement inaccurate. Thanks for giving me an idea on the age.