.70 Cal Austrian Bullet! Maybe not..... need a possitive ID

The Wolf

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #1

Went out today for the first land hunt of the fall season. Things were going pretty slow with only one Minie ball in about an hour and a half, then I got a solid hit next to a tree stump. At about 10" deep I pulled a big-ole bullet out. I remember thinking "cool a .69", then noticed how pointy it was. I threw it in my pouch and went on with no other notable finds. After running some errands, I grabbed the finds bag and started to clean up the bullet. Woah, I noticed the rings weren't quite normal and square, but triangular and slanted, then again the very pointed nose. It turns out to be a nice dropped .69-.70 cal Austrian. I'm pretty excited about it. I've never found one before & I know they're pretty rare, especially in the larger caliber. Here it is next to the .58 Minie I dug today. Excellent way to start the season!

Thanks for looking -HH

 

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Dsm_mechva

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• Sep 28, 2014

• #2

that's a nice find!

 

GroundSweeper

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #3

Whoa, that's nice find, quite a hunk of lead.

 

VA-REB

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #4

I like finding bullets. I like finding it all. That is a nice one.

 

VaMark

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #5

That's a nice one Buddy!

 

The Wolf

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #6

Mason & McKee says Austrian, but it looks different than others I've seen. It actually looks a lot like this one. It may not be an Austrian after all. Let see if someone can accurately ID this one.

http://www.baymediapro.com/collection/bullet_details.asp?BID=136

I'll add the Mason & McKee ID# when I get home this evening.

 

VA-REB

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #7

Did you get any weight/size measurements of it. Might help.

 

Donneybrook

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• Sep 29, 2014

• #8

imagine the size of the hole in your chest after that thing hit....

 

planerie

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Saint Martinville, LA

• Sep 29, 2014

• #9

The Wolf said:

Mason & McKee says Austrian, but it looks different than others I've seen. It actually looks a lot like this one. It may not be an Austrian after all. Let see if someone can accurately ID this one.

http://www.baymediapro.com/collection/bullet_details.asp?BID=136

I'll add the Mason & McKee ID# when I get home this evening.

Click to expand...

It sure looks like the bullet in the link.

 

Curbdog

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Middle TN

• Sep 29, 2014

• #10

At a certain point in the war, the Union stopped using the .69 3-ringer. After then, only the South did.


If you know when any action in that area took place, that may be a clue.

 

Waterhead

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Southeastern, Virginia

• Sep 29, 2014

• #11

Hum!

Let me take a shot at this. It's kind of hard to tell by the pictures so if you could inspect the bullet.

It almost looks like a .69 CS side-cast bullet. So, look at the upper shoulder of the bullet for a flat spot where the mold sprue was cut off. If it is, then it's what I listed above.

If not then it's just a variant of the US Austrian. Nice bullet!

 

H

HomeGuardDan

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• Sep 30, 2014

• #12

Waterhead said:

Let me take a shot at this. It's kind of hard to tell by the pictures so if you could inspect the bullet.

It almost looks like a .69 CS side-cast bullet. So, look at the upper shoulder of the bullet for a flat spot where the mold sprue was cut off. If it is, then it's what I listed above.

If not then it's just a variant of the US Austrian. Nice bullet!

Click to expand...

Waterhead is almost entirely correct.

First, nice bullet man, but not an Austrain. I would agree in side-case bullet, but would actually think it is a US side cast from the Harpers Ferry arsenal. The only thing certain is that it is not an Austrian.

 

The Wolf

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• Sep 30, 2014

• #13

Hey thanks guys. Here is a pic from the Mason & McKee book. It lists this bullet as .70 cal Austrian for Rifle Musket, and used by US, rather than the more common CS pattern. Is it possible this could be a US pattern for an Austrian?

#314 looks to be an exact match. I know they're have been discrepancies found in this book since it was published, that's why I'm questioning it.

It lists #313-315 all as US Austrians variants. You can see the CS pattern Austrians right below these in the pic to the left.

Thanks again.

 

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61chip

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West Central Missouri

• Oct 5, 2014

• #14

Looks like a good match to #314 to me, Wolf. It's a nice bullet what ever it turns out to be. I've found a handful of .69 cal bullets, but haven't yet been able to determine an exact match to them from M & M book. I don't have a scale to weigh them --- do y'all think weight is very crucial to determine an exact bullet type?