Mini ball identification?

[Zadiecat]

I'm a newbie and my dad recently gave me some mini balls he found. One has a 15 written on the inside of it which I would assume someone wrote in it to sell but my dad found it in a field? The other one I'm not too sure about. I have no idea if it's civil war era or not. Would love to hear the opinions of those more experienced.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Except for the Gardner (Confederate) ones, Minie-bullets with only two body-grooves are rare. I believe your fired, damaged one is a yankee-made .69-caliber Machine-Pressed-&-Turned minie which was previously miss-identified in some bullet books as a Prussian. To verify that ID, I need you to weigh it on a Jeweler's scale, and tell us the weight in Grains. If that's not possible, the weight in grams will have to do. Although it looks very much like the .69-caliber I named above, it MIGHT be a .58-caliber, which would change the ID. Your bullet's precise weight will answer that question.

 

[Zadiecat]

That's very interesting! Thank you for the awesome info! I don't own any scale but I can definitely try to get one or see if I know anyone with one.

 

[Davers]

With a Big cavity like that , I'm thinking the TheCannonBallGuy is Correct. He usually is.

Do you know if they were dug in Georgia?

 

[Zadiecat]

I managed to weigh it in grams. I believe it's 45.5 g
It was definitely found in georgia but judging by the 15 written on the inside it could've come from anywhere.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Thanks for doing the super-precise weighing. Your report of 45.5 grams translates to about 690-to-700 grains... which is correct for "long-bodied" .69-caliber Minies like the Machine-Pressed-&-Turned .69 (ex-"Prussian") version. So, I'm sticking with that ID. I must mention that I'm very surprised to hear it was dug in Georgia. The yankees did not use any .69-caliber rifles in the Atlanta Campaign (1864). It must be from the 1863 Chickamauga Georgia campaign.

 

[Zadiecat]

Thank you so much for the great info. I'm very happy to own a little piece of history.

 

[Davers]

Thanks for doing the super-precise weighing. Your report of 45.5 grams translates to about 690-to-700 grains... which is correct for "long-bodied" .69-caliber Minies like the Machine-Pressed-&-Turned .69 (ex-"Prussian") version. So, I'm sticking with that ID. I must mention that I'm very surprised to hear it was dug in Georgia. The yankees did not use any .69-caliber rifles in the Atlanta Campaign (1864). It must be from the 1863 Chickamauga Georgia campaign.

I hear ya TCBG.
The only .69 Minnie's I have dug in Georgia , 2 were in Skirmish areas, & 1 dug 15 years ago was found near Chickamauga.
Oh all were 3 ring types.

Nice Treasure you got there Zadiecat.