Musketball?

[metaldetecta]

It is 9.65 grams in weight and is made of lead. I am no expert but it looks legit. It is smaller than a .69 musketball from the civil war I own. Ideas on age and if it is a musketball?

 

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[BosnMate]

It very definitely looks like a dropped muzzle loader ball, possibly rifle or pistol. The exact measurement of the ball in 1/1000's of an inch gives the caliber. Bullets are weighed in grains, so a lead ball 9.65 grams = 148.9 grains, which in turn works out to be .46 caliber. Muzzle loading rifles use a ball smaller than bore size, and the difference is made up with greased patch material. In my .50 caliber rifle I used a .490 ball with .017 patch. Cap and ball revolvers use an over size ball and actually cut a ring of lead off the ball when it is loaded, so it's possible that your ball is for a .44 caliber revolver like the 1861 colt which looks like this.

The revolver is loaded by placing powder in the cylinder first.


Then the ball is placed on top, and is rammed down on the powder using the lever under the guns barrel, and this cuts a small ring of lead off the ball.

 

[metaldetecta]

It very definitely looks like a dropped muzzle loader ball, possibly rifle or pistol. The exact measurement of the ball in 1/1000's of an inch gives the caliber. Bullets are weighed in grains, so a lead ball 9.65 grams = 148.9 grains, which in turn works out to be .46 caliber. Muzzle loading rifles use a ball smaller than bore size, and the difference is made up with greased patch material. In my .50 caliber rifle I used a .490 ball with .017 patch. Cap and ball revolvers use an over size ball and actually cut a ring of lead off the ball when it is loaded, so it's possible that your ball is for a .44 caliber revolver like the 1861 colt which looks like this.
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1035419"/>
The revolver is loaded by placing powder in the cylinder first.

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1035420"/>
Then the ball is placed on top, and is rammed down on the powder using the lever under the guns barrel, and this cuts a small ring of lead off the ball.
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1035422"/>

Thank you for the info!