Assumed it was a bullet...until I cleaned it up.

IfindFe

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Milton-Freewater, Oregon
It is lead. .225 dia. shank. I've dug plenty of bullets and have never seen one mushroom this perfectly. No rifling marks. Appears more like a lead rivet, cap or plug. Found in a field along suspected old stagecoach road. Anyone seen similar?
 

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Rivet, not a bullet. Blow up the center pic and look under the head.
 
Thanks for noticing that Sage, it's exactly what I figured. But I can't find an example of a small lead rivet on the internet. My finds along this stretch are from the 1920's to earlier. I'm researching it as an abandoned wagon/stagecoach road.
 
I believe that's an unused hot rivet?

Rivet, not a bullet. Blow up the center pic and look under the head.

Thanks for noticing that Sage, it's exactly what I figured. But I can't find an example of a small lead rivet on the internet. My finds along this stretch are from the 1920's to earlier. I'm researching it as an abandoned wagon/stagecoach road.


Sorry Curt, moderators get no acknowledgement :shrug:
 
Sorry Curt, didn't mean to ignore you, I was still trying to figure out how a lead hot rivet would work. If someone could point me toward an application for this little lead rivet I'd be all happy. I'm an old farm boy and have used plenty of cold rivets to replace sickle sections on a sickle bar mower. I've seen plenty of hot rivets on old equipment and buildings. This little lead thing has me stumped. And thanks for your reply, I do appreciate all input.
 
Did a little googling on lead rivets and two uses I found were in knife making (rivet handle onto blade) and marine applications.

There may be other uses since even harder lead alloys are softer than copper (and cheaper) or steel (which rusts easily) where some corrosion resistance is needed and high strength is not required.
 
The only reason I can think of for a lead rivet would be if you wanted it to give way, Could it be some kind of pressure relief plug, freeze plug, or maybe fire suppression fusible link type dohickey?
 
I checked it out under a microscope. The build is more involved than I thought. There are very defined shoulders, around and lengthwise. I haven't found a way to get a photo to show this. Looking at the build I think the plug idea is a good one to explore. Probably went into something softer than itself, like wood. I'm looking. Thanks for the replies! I really appreciate the help on this.
 
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