Is this confederate

[Joe hunter]

I've never found one

 

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[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I think that's a relatively modern slug, not sure though.
Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Joe hunter]

I think that's a relatively modern slug, not sure though.
Keep @ it and HH !!

Thanks for your reply I know nothing about them

 

[JustKeepDigging]

Where'd you find it? And what are the measurements? I found something very similar or the same recently and was told its a modern bullet.

 

[Joe hunter]

Where'd you find it? And what are the measurements? I found something very similar or the same recently and was told its a modern bullet.

I found it at the county fair grounds in upstate NY I'm going to look more tomorrow maybe it
Was used in a show or something the fairs been there since the 1800s

 

[Joe hunter]

Oh ! It's 15cm

 

[Joe hunter]

Oh ! It's 15cm

I mean mm

 

[Bryanhashemi]

I've never found one

looks like theres groove lines in the rings(forgot what their called) which means modern. Civil war bullets did not have these

 

[mical66]

justkeepdigging , Byan is right, i did pick that much up atleast from Cannonballguy who is the expert hands down on all civil war artillary .
that if the bullets have those ridges it is a newer bullet...just wish i could remember the time line he gave .

as for the OP bullet ? i do not know but i am sure it will be ided,, muddy hands has commented and i am sure others will also ..

 

[treasure search]

one thing indicate age... the white patina takes many years to get that color oxidize. check the base, see if flat? concave? you may have the real thing...

 

[ricco73]

Are mine real?

 

[Bryanhashemi]

Are mine real?

yes. those are civil war 3 ringers

 

[Bryanhashemi]

one thing indicate age... the white patina takes many years to get that color oxidize. check the base, see if flat? concave? you may have the real thing...

the all lead cw bullets turn white over time. those modern bullets (meaning 1900's to now) can turn that color pretty quickly. Not sure why...maybe metal content. Ive dug modern 22's that turn white

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bryanhashemi, your guess is correct... the answer is the metal's content. Some bullets are 100% lead. Others are a lead alloy which in the 1800s was called "hardened lead." For example, as the photo below shows, bullets made in 1886 for the US .45-70 Government/Springfield rifle contained 94% lead alloyed with 6% tin.

The reason for using a harder lead-alloy instead of pure lead is twofold:
1- Pure lead is a very soft metal. When you rub pure lead across a harder object -- especially, something which has a sharp-edged ridge on it -- the lead leaves little bits of itself behind on the sharp-edged ridge. Therefore, using bullets made of pure lead tends to gradually clog the sharp-edged rifling grooves inside a gun's barrel.
2- "Repeating" rifles (and pistols) fired bullets in such rapid succession that the gun's rifling grooves would pretty quickly get clogged. Using "hardened" lead significanty reduced that problem. Then in the late-1880s/early-1890s the problem was fully solved by putting a harder metal jacket (such as copper) on the bullets. So, ever since then, the great majority of bullets manufactured for use in fast-firing repeaters have a copper jacket covering the lead bullet.

I should mention that other metals (such as brass, and steel) have been used for the bullet's jacket... but copper is by far the most popular.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Mical66 wrote:
> Justkeepdigging , Bryan is right, i did pick that much up at least from Cannonballguy
> who is the expert hands down on all civil war artillary that if the bullets have
> those ridges it is a newer bullet... just wish i could remember the time line he gave.

There is debate among bullet-historians about precisely when the first bullets with multiple tiny parallel ridges in the body-grooves (known as "reeded grooves") were used in America... but it is generally agreed to have occurred within a couple of years of 1880 (let's say, 1878-1882).

For anybody here who doesn't already know:
I've previously posted the photo below along with the information given above. It shows a bullet with a "reeded" body-groove. That means the bullet was manufactured no earlier than approximately 1880... and possibly MUCH later than that, because vast quantities of reeded-groove bullets have been manufactured ever since 1880, and are still being made today.

So, if you dig a bullet which has one or more body-grooves, use a toothbrush on the bullet under running water to remove as much crud as possible from the grooves, and see if there are tiny parallel ridges in the groove. They mean the bullet cannot be any older than approximately 1880.

 

[Joe hunter]

Thanks for all of you very informative responses

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Joe, you said your bullet is 15 millimeters. Is that its length, or its diameter? Also, please use a toothbrush and water to clean the gunk out of your bullet's body-grooves, and tell us if it has the multiple tiny parallel ridges in the grooves, or not.

Until I get those answers (and a precise hundredths-of-an-inch measurement of its diameter), all I can say is that your bullet like an 1880s/90s-era .44-40-200 Winchester bullet for the .44-caliber Winchester Model-1873 rifle and Marlin rifles. See photo, below.

 

[Joe hunter]

Joe, you said your bullet is 15 millimeters. Is that its length, or its diameter? Also, please use a toothbrush and water to clean the gunk out of your bullet's body-grooves, and tell us if it has the multiple tiny parallel ridges in the grooves, or not.

Until I get those answers (and a precise hundredths-of-an-inch measurement of its diameter), all I can say is that your bullet like an 1880s/90s-era .44-40-200 Winchester bullet for the .44-caliber Winchester Model-1873 rifle and Marlin rifles. See photo, below.

Just got back on ,I'll clean and measure it and get back to you

 

[Joe hunter]

I'm a joe finisher/painter and only have a tape measure the base is three eighths .

I hope the photos are helpful if you can't I D that's fine I appreciate your help

 

[Joe hunter]

Oh ya I see nothing in the grooves