✅ SOLVED Musket Ball?

[Umbrahabitator]

Hello, I hope I found a musket ball, it looks like one and sure feels like lead. If how I found it is any indication, then this may help. I dug about 4-6 inches deep and found a large rock, the musket ball was under the rock. I measured it and it came out to be around 16-17 mm in diameter, I don't have calipers so the measurements are not the best. However, I found this website and did the calculation "Diameter in inches = 0.223304 x (Weight in grams) to the power of 1/3" and got .635047

.223304 x 23 grams ^ (1/3) = .635047

I notice the little lump (labeled with an "L") where the metal would be poured and an off-center seam line as described in the article.

Thank you all for your help and wisdom, it is great knowing there are people to help in this grand adventure

 

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[VTColonialDigger]

Looks like one to me. Did you find at an old site, the age of the site may help to determine the general era of when the thing is from.

 

[Umbrahabitator]

That is the odd bit, I am in Illinois, between the Mississippi and the Illinois River. The town was founded in the 1830's

 

[CRUSADER]

Yeap.

 

[Umbrahabitator]

What are the chances it is French? I am within 30 miles of La Harpe Illinois and the French musket balls look similar.

 

[CRUSADER]

What are the chances it is French? I am within 30 miles of La Harpe Illinois and the French musket balls look similar.

Not sure does it have a funny accent

 

[Umbrahabitator]

Sadly, the only thing that speaks to me is the silver in the ground with its' soft whispers of, "I am here, find me." I see your point, it really has no real identifying features to narrow it much further than "old musket ball".

 

[CRUSADER]

Sadly, the only thing that speaks to me is the silver in the ground with its' soft whispers of, "I am here, find me." I see your point, it really has no real identifying features to narrow it much further than "old musket ball".

Too be fair it probably does to the right person. Cannonball guy might narrow it a little more.
As I find so many in the UK, I just put them all in size order, & forget about them.

 

[Umbrahabitator]

Heh, I will take all I can get, the big cornfield we call Illinois doesn't have the wonders of Europe. I will try and get Cannonball guy on over, love the fact there are so many knowledgable people in one place.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Appears to be lead. Appears to be a ball.

I shoot a 16 bore (0.662") flintlock and use a .0648" ball that weighs 410 grains. That works out to 26.57 grams. So your 16mm would be about 0.630", and in line with the 23 grams.

The French of the 18th Century issued a 27 gram ball of 0.65" to 0.66" (16.54mm+/-) in their paper cartridges; so you're a hair smaller than standard for a 0.69" bore.

But then if the lead has impurities (normally lighter inclusions like tin or zinc) then trying to back into a diameter by weight will be sketchy at best.

 

[Umbrahabitator]

Eliminating French as a likely option, is American Revolutionary or within that era still on the table, perhaps Civil War? Is there no concrete way to find out in the absence of accurate measurements? (Just ordered a pair of calipers)

 

[gunsil]

First of all, "round ball" is a more proper term, a musket is a military long arm and we don't know if it was for a musket or other muzzle loading firearm. There were many more muzzle loading projectiles fired for hunting and target practice in this country than in battle and muzzle loaders were used right up to 1900 in many areas and into the 1920s in some really rural areas. As Charlie said it could have been fired from a shotgun, we will never know. I used to buy dug CW .69 balls and fire them from my 16 bore shotgun (they cost 10 cents apiece back in the early 60s). I don't see "an uneven seam", looks like a pour where the lead wasn't hot enough, even in the days of yore bullet molds had very even seams. Also I think your "L" is something you see that is not any intentional mark, sprues were never marked and I don't really see a sprue mark either. Of course when loaded the sprue should be placed up and the ramrod would compress it a bit and if you were a marksman you might smooth the sprue out before loading. The fact is that there will be no way to really date it but given your location it was probably fired in hunting or target practice.

 

[Umbrahabitator]

Aye, your point about the "round ball" is very true, the area was marked for a town around the 1830's so it might well just be from a hunting firearm from the time periods you listed. To clarify, there is no "intentional mark," on the ball itself but a lump that protrudes noticeably. I labeled it with an "L" in the image as it is not as noticeable as it would be in person. I was kind of worried it would turn out to be a bit more modern, or worse yet could be old or new and I would never truly know. Thank you for all your help and input, I will mark it as solved soon but will hold off for a bit. (Wishful thinking wants it to be a really old musket ball).

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congrats on the nice round ball!