Need an opinion....additional information, and a shameless plug

casroc2003

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
323
Location
Newbern, TN
Hi, I was working a soccer field at a park in a neighboring town. Iwas hunting in the coin and jewelry mode on my XLT, when I got a solid dime reading showing 4.5 inches deep. Out of the hole comes a bullet. I didn't really pay much attention to it, just dropped it in my finds pouch and kept hunting. Soon another hit, then another. Ended up with 9 bullets total. I was thinking that they were .45s at first, but when I got home and took a better look, I realized that they were black powder bullets. The patina doesn't look right for civil war era, but I don't know much about muzzle loaders either. Can anyone help shed some light on what I've got here? If better pictures are needed let me know and I'll see what I can do. Most of the bullets were measuring around .57, .58 with the calipers except number 9, it measures approximately. 47.

I stoped by Dixie Gun works today and talked with them about the bullets that I had found. In the late 70s there were some civil war reenactments held there. They had a firing range for the muzzle loaders. In the late 80s or early 90s, they took the berm down and used the dirt as fill for the soccer fields. Ther is a LOT of bullets there. Me and a friend went out today and he found 14 bullets, and I found 19. A total of 42 bullets in two hunts. We were tired of digging bullets. ( considering that they were new )
For anyone interested in the civil war, or anything black powder, knifes, swords, or mountain man era, or old west, check out www.dixiegunworks.com . Or if you happen to be even remotely close to Union City, Tennessee, stop by and check them out. The store is awesome.
 

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Without some close up and weights and measurements, I would say your bullets are post war. A couple look like 45-70s, some look to short for civil war era. But they are not real modern either. I would think your spot deserves another look.
 
I'm not sure if this helps any or not. I tried to get the most consistent numbers I could. I'm not sure how much expansion to take into consideration after being fired.
 

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I dont know nuttin from nuttin bout bullets. However, I had to comment on the excellent post. Crisp, clear and informative. Kudos bud.
 
These mainly look to be modern renditions of Civil War period smalls arms projectiles.
 
These mainly look to be modern renditions of Civil War period smalls arms projectiles.

Without some close up and weights and measurements, I would say your bullets are post war. A couple look like 45-70s, some look to short for civil war era. But they are not real modern either. I would think your spot deserves another look.

Not a bullet guy here, but definitely cool. Look like they could be from the civil war, 2 and 3 ringers were popular. Maybe more info here, but other members will know for sure...

http://detecting365.com/measuring-identifying-collecting-dug-civil-war-bullets/

^ article is also courtesy of a member here. (Shameless plug for ND). :laughing:

I was 90 percent sure that they weren't civil war era, but you never know unless you ask someone more knowledgeable than yourself. If you didn't catch the update in the original thread, they are late 70s reenactment bullets. Spread around when the old fording berm was removed and used for fill dirt. It was still fun finding them, but after 28 it's getting a bit tiresome. At least knowing what I know now about them.
 
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