✅ SOLVED The Cal. and Make of these Big Lead.

[tinpan]

Hi All ,there's a couple of the big lead found this year. Large musket ball , No sure but i think a Henry and a 3 ringer. Cal and maker would be what i,m after > Thank you.

tinpan

 

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[vpnavy]

Can't answer your questions but still nice finds tinpan!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

To accurately identify and time-date your bullets,we need to know:
1- the town and state where you dug them, and
2- their exact diameter, measured in hundredths-of-an-inch (use a Digital Caliper for that).

Until we get all of that information, all I can say is:
Item #1 could be a (fired) Revolutionary War .75-caliber musketball, or a Civil War .69-caliber musketball, an Artillery antipersonnel ball, or a lead ball which is not a projectile.
Item #2 is a latter-1800s/early-1900s breechloading rifle bullet from a metallic cartridge.
Item #3 is an unfired civil war era 3-groove Minie-ball. In addition to its precise diameter measurement, we need to know the shape of the cavity in its base (simple cone, flat-topped cone, teat-in-cone, etc) to perhaps be able to tell if it is a US or CS minie-ball.

Just in case you don't already know... the photo below shows how to use a Digital Caliper to precisely measure a bullet's diameter. I also suggest rotating the bullet a bit, for two additional measurements of the diameter, and then calculating the average of the three measurements. Of course, always make the three diameter-measurements at the "fattest" part of the bullet's body.

 

[BosnMate]

Tinpan is in Australia, and regarding the large round ball. The British manufactured some very large caliber round ball muzzle loading rifles for sportsman. They developed those arms for hunting mostly in Africa, but they also brought them to the states. I remember reading about an argument between an American and a Brit about calibers. The Brit maintained that he would use far less powder and lead and bring in more game. I don't know how the argument ended, but having hunted and killed big game with round ball muzzle loaders, I agree with the British sportsman. The only way to make a round ball heavier is to make it bigger around. Out of a black powder muzzleloader, it takes a little more powder to get things rolling, but the larger ball travels further, flatter, and retains more energy when it hits, thus doing a much better job of putting the animal's lights out. Once the elongated bullet was invented, the weight of the bullet could be increased by leaving it the same caliber and making it longer. So, if your round ball is in the neighbor hood of .72 of an inch, it might be a Brown Bess musket ball, otherwise it could well be a sporting rifle bullet. The smaller elongated bullet I don't know enough about what arms were being used in Australia, but with the two grease grooves it doesn't look like any early American bullet I know about. The third one is probably a Minnie ball, but need measurements to know for sure which gun it might be for.