??? Musket Ball or NOT ???

[Rogue Relic Hunter]

I dug this musket ball (?) this afternoon.

It is not perfectly round in the sense that there are flat spots all over it (otherwise is round). It is very heavy. I do not currently have a way to measure it properly. Clad nickle and dime are for sizing. it is about 3/4 of an inch long (when resting on the desk) 3/4 inch high. it is not magnetic.

I dug it in an urban area where I normally find clad change and stuff that looks like the area may have been a car garage or mechanic shop of some type. However, this entire area is littered with civil war artifacts. bullets and musket balls could be anywhere you dig.

any ideas, hypotheses, and informed speculations are WELCOME! Feel free to chime in!



PIC BELOW: Musket ball (?) is center. The other balls I dug this month on separate digs. the bullet is still yet to be ID'd for sure. Wanted to include for sizing purposes on the musket ball (?). The 3 rounds balls are either case-shot or pistol shot, still to be determined. Chime in on any of these...



I did find this information online that may explain the flat spots?:

"Musket balls have been excavated at Monmouth with shallow circular depressions as shown in Figure 5. Again based on the personal experiences of the author in firing black powder flintlock muskets, this appears to be ramrod marks. Even though a ball may be sitting loosely in the breach of a musket, you still ram it several times to compact the powder. If the ball is loose, it will rotate slightly with each strike. This ball has three blows from a ramrod."

 

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[coinman123]

u think civil war or revolutionary? guess we will never really know.

I'm guessing probably from a hunter in the 1700-1850 time. Though if it was found near a battlefield of sorts, or a known place where troops went through, there is a good chance it is from either one of those. I usually connect musket balls with 1700's though, so I would guess Revolutionary War. By the time of the Civil War, bullets seemed to be much more common place. At my favorite site, active from around 1730-1790 I seem to find a huge amount of musket balls, many of them look very much like yours. Sadly, there was not wars fought in my state of NH so I am pretty sure they are from hunters. Places I detect from the mid 1800's seem to yield a lot of earlier civil war looking bullets, rather than musket balls. Considering you live in Virginia there is a big chance it could be from a battle. Either way, a cool find!

 

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[coinman123]

What are the measure, if I remember correctly, if it is 69 caliber it is of very high chance of being in Revolutionary War, as those are from the Brown Bess Musket. Any measurements? Color looks like ones I find in damp soil.

 

[Rogue Relic Hunter]

I'm guessing probably from a hunter in the 1700-1850 time. Though if it was found near a battlefield of sorts, or a known place where troops went through, there is a good chance it is from either one of those. I usually connect musket balls with 1700's though, so I would guess Revolutionary War. By the time of the Civil War, bullets seemed to be much more common place. At my favorite site, active from around 1730-1790 I seem to find a huge amount of musket balls, many of them look very much like yours. Sadly, there was not wars fought in my state of NH so I am pretty sure they are from hunters. Places I detect from the mid 1800's seem to yield a lot of earlier civil war looking bullets, rather than musket balls. Considering you live in Virginia there is a big chance it could be from a battle. Either way, a cool find!

we are a few miles where the 1st land battle of the civil war took place (battle of big bethel), an i understand there were skirmishes around. also, soldiers camped and marched all over this place going to and from Ft. Monroe. there were prob rev war battles also, but i am not sure on that yet. i am in the process of researching it. i do not know the measurements yet. need get that done. this will help rule out some explanations and leave others plausible. and, in the end, that is prob all you end up with, a few plausible explanations, none certain.

 

[Rogue Relic Hunter]

it would explain the flat spots all over the ball. see that bottom ball on the left of your pic, looks like it develops a big flat spot resting on the shell. then others around it, other flat spots. def something to consider, though i surely would like the revolutionary war musket ball to be the one that is true. bottom line, we just dont know. prob the best way is to get it measured and weighed and start ruling explanations out based on that. then see what is left.

what size were the balls inside? mine measured to be

56.215 grams (867.5 grains) (19.83 ounces)

21.69 to 22.31 millimeters (depending where measured) (.82 to .88 inches), SO .866 caliber