🔎 UNIDENTIFIED What weapons used .58 caliber round ball?

[jangrok]

Good morning! I posted a few days ago about a potential round ball (white patina on lead leads me to believe it’s not a modern projectile)

The ball is misshaped, so measuring diameter is questionable, calipers give me .69 inches for diameter. I used the Sivilich formula as well which gives me .58 caliber

Diameter in inches = 0.2228 x (Weight
in grams)1/3
(This is the cube root of the weight
in grams.)

This lead me to a .58 caliber round ball.

Now my question is. What weapon fired a .58 caliber round ball? Or is it potentially a .69 caliber? I’ve searched and everything talks about .58 minie ball (Springfield 1861 fired a .58 minie ball) thank you in advance!

 

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[VaGent]

"....69 inches for diameter"

I think you answered your own question. But any variety of round ball can be found, and were used in just a wide variety of firearms, whether military or civilian.

 

[Hookedondetecting]

The 1863 Zouave rifle was originally produced by Remington Arms under a contract with the US Government. Very few models actually saw action during the Civil War and none were distributed to any army division. However, the Zouave was created to put a more manueverable firearm into the hands of soliders and along with its' barrel strength it was also prized for its' overall beauty. The patch box additionally allowed for storage.



This rifle is an authentic reproduction made with high quality, premium metal and wood finishes as well as hand-oiled wood stocks. Approved by the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA). Perfect for shooters, hunters, enthusiasts, collectors, and those performing re-enactments. .58 Caliber, Percussion, Rifled.

 

[Hookedondetecting]

 

[villagenut]

Can you weigh it on a digital scale....in grains?

 

[jangrok]

Can you weigh it on a digital scale....in grains?

My buddy is the one who found it, I can ask him. I’ll do a search for how to weigh it in grains

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The Springfield M1842 was 0.69" bore and fired a round ball (as I recall the gun that killed Stonewall Jackson), as did many before that. The French Charleville from 1717 to 1777 used a round 0.69" ball. Though almost always a smaller than bore diameter ball was used; i.e. 0.650" in a 0.69 cal.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Jangrok asked:
> What weapons used .58 caliber round ball?

According to the very-extensive list of civil war era firearms by caliber in the book "Civil War Projectiles II: Small Arms & Field Artillery" by McKee and Mason, the answer to your question is... none.

There were many versions of .58-caliber firearms, but all of them were rifled... which at the time of the civil war means they fired a cylindro-conical bullet, not a roundball. (In the early-1800s there were a few firearms that had rifling-grooves but did fire a roundball.)

That being said... this discussion is mostly pointless, because we do not yet know the actual diameter of the lead ball. We won't know that until we are given the very-precise weight of the ball, in grains. That will tell us whether or not the ball is even a projectile... and if so, what its most likely caliber is. For example, according to the M&M book cited above, a .54-caliber musketball weighs 217 grams, and a .69-caliber weighs 392 grams.