Lead bullets?

[USNFLYR]

It’s rare, but occasionally I come across lead bullets along the shoreline of rivers that I detect. The shell casing looks to be a .38 caliber? Any guess at the age? I no one is a modern .22 bullet, but the longer/larger one looks much older.....any guesses on type and age for that? Finally...is the round lead plug a fired ball? Or just a throw away lead piece of slag?

Thanks for looking!

 

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[Charlie P. (NY)]

The case looks like a .38-40 WCF. They were "common" from 1874 to 1937. Still produced.

The round ball is possibly a round rifle ball. Been in continual use for 400 years (I still deer hunt with cast lead round balls) so it's hard to say from an image how old it might be.

The other lead bullet is a fairly modern design. Late 1940's/Early 1950's to present. I'm guessing a .32 caliber.

 

[FloodcityTom]

The round Ball looks like a shotgun slug that was fired from a smooth bore possibly 12 ga. There is the possibility of a modern blackpowder rifle popular with deer hunter in larger calibers. Lead oxidizes in the ground and turns white with age. The time to "whited" can vary with the soil mineralization. I surmise that none of the lead is very old