✅ SOLVED Pointy thing and any really old bullets?

[cdsieg]

Most of these items were found at a Private RV park in Arizona (I had the owners consent to hunt on his land).

I don't have a clue as to what the pointy thing is, but with the two different grouping of bullets if there is anything there interesting, old or Civil War era?

The first and the last photo are from the second set of bullets. I am new to using the advanced photo downloader and I don't know why the photos don't display in the order I put them on there!

I guess I have two pointy things and a few more bullets!

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

First... extreme magnification of your photos shows that most of your bullets have multiple tiny parallel ridges in their body-grooves. Those are known as "reeded" grooves. Relevant to dating your bullets, reeded grooves first appear on American-made bullets in the very-late-1870s. So your bulets are unlikely to be older than that.

Second... most (but not all) of your bullets show a thick, white-ish patina. That characteristic indicates the white-ish ones are made of "pure" lead, instead of an alloy of lead with another metal. Prior to 1870, the vast majority of bullets were pure-lead. But soon after 1870, lead-alloy bullets were greatly preferred, because pure-lead (which is a soft metal) tended to quickly "clog" the rifling-grooves in the new fast-firing guns. So, by 1890, the great majority of REPEATING-RIFLE bullets were lead-alloy. But the use of pure-lead for PISTOL bullets persisted a few decades longer.

Most of your bullets appear to be pistol bullets.

Therefore, your white-ish pistol bullets with a reeded body-groove most probably were made sometime between the very-late-1870s and the very-early 1900s.

Some of your bullets are too smashed to accurately identify. I can only help ID the items in your second photo's top row (next to the tape-measure. From left to right in that row:
dog-bone "charm" from a charm-bracelet or necklace
crotal bell (horse-harness bell, a.k.a. "sleigh bell"
two .45-caliber Colt revolver bullets
unknown .36 or .38 revolver bullet
copper-jacketed .30-caliber rifle bullet from the 20th-century
last bullet is too smashed for definite ID

I must mention, those are merely my "best guesses" about the top row in photo #2. As I've said previously in this forum, I do not know as much about post-1865 bullets as I do about civil war era bullets. If anybody here has solid information which contradicts my guesses, please do speak up with that information.

 

[ch Penn]

The pointy things are inserts for arrows. The point its self is a practice tip connected to the insert.

 

[cdsieg]

First... extreme magnification of your photos shows that most of your bullets have multiple tiny parallel ridges in their body-grooves. Those are known as "reeded" grooves. Relevant to dating your bullets, reeded grooves first appear on American-made bullets in the very-late-1870s. So your bulets are unlikely to be older than that.

Second... most (but not all) of your bullets show a thick, white-ish patina. That characteristic indicates the white-ish ones are made of "pure" lead, instead of an alloy of lead with another metal. Prior to 1870, the vast majority of bullets were pure-lead. But soon after 1870, lead-alloy bullets were greatly preferred, because pure-lead (which is a soft metal) tended to quickly "clog" the rifling-grooves in the new fast-firing guns. So, by 1890, the great majority of REPEATING-RIFLE bullets were lead-alloy. But the use of pure-lead for PISTOL bullets persisted a few decades longer.

Most of your bullets appear to be pistol bullets.

Therefore, your white-ish pistol bullets with a reeded body-groove most probably were made sometime between the very-late-1870s and the very-early 1900s.

Some of your bullets are too smashed to accurately identify. I can only help ID the items in your second photo's top row (next to the tape-measure. From left to right in that row:
dog-bone "charm" from a charm-bracelet or necklace
crotal bell (horse-harness bell, a.k.a. "sleigh bell"
two .45-caliber Colt revolver bullets
unknown .36 or .38 revolver bullet
copper-jacketed .30-caliber rifle bullet from the 20th-century
last bullet is too smashed for definite ID

I must mention, those are merely my "best guesses" about the top row in photo #2. As I've said previously in this forum, I do not know as much about post-1865 bullets as I do about civil war era bullets. If anybody here has solid information which contradicts my guesses, please do speak up with that information.

WOW!!! Thank you for so much information! I now wish I had the capability to retain it! LOL That is quite a great lesson on bullet information! I have another bullet on http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/313765-prospector-tool-point-buckle-bullet-cap.html on this posting too, if you have the time, I sure would appreciate your thoughts on it. Thank you again!

 

[cdsieg]

The pointy things are inserts for arrows. The point its self is a practice tip connected to the insert.

Thanks ch Penn for your answer. Do you know if they are old or how I could tell if they are old? Thanks again!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Cdseig wrote:
> I have another bullet on Prospector, Tool, Point, Buckle, Bullet, & a Cap on this posting too,
> if you have the time, I sure would appreciate your thoughts on it.

By your request, I examined it closely, but before I can say anything more than that it seems to be an 1870s-to-1890s pure-lead bullet, I'll need extra-precise measurements of its exact diameter (such as .45-inch) and its length. Additional photos would also be helpful, because I can't quite be certain how many grooves encircle its body. Also, is its base "flat, solid" or does it have an indention (such as, a shallow bowl-shaped cavity)?

 

[ch Penn]

Don't know how to tell there age.

 

[cdsieg]

Cdseig wrote:
> I have another bullet on Prospector, Tool, Point, Buckle, Bullet, & a Cap on this posting too,
> if you have the time, I sure would appreciate your thoughts on it.

By your request, I examined it closely, but before I can say anything more than that it seems to be an 1870s-to-1890s pure-lead bullet, I'll need extra-precise measurements of its exact diameter (such as .45-inch) and its length. Additional photos would also be helpful, because I can't quite be certain how many grooves encircle its body. Also, is its base "flat, solid" or does it have an indention (such as, a shallow bowl-shaped cavity)?

I will try to get those photos and measurements to you tomorrow. Thank you for being willing to help me out!

 

[hotrod]

cool