Swage bullet
- Thread starter VA-REB
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Dsm_mechva
Forum Supporter
Nice! thanks for sharing
Spectra1
Elite Member
The six spokes inside from the factory machining give it the "swage" name... This is a nice one because there is also a star in the center! Very sweet!
I did not find it listed in bullet book and I have only seen people from ga report three, I could be wrong though. Anyone else dig a swage and star base???????
here's a better pic reb sent me earlier.
I did not find it listed in bullet book and I have only seen people from ga report three, I could be wrong though. Anyone else dig a swage and star base???????
here's a better pic reb sent me earlier.Hey, Joe, I just noticed that star after we talked. Pretty neat.
I am not certain, but I don't think they were using the swage method to make bullets in the time period of your bullets. Swaging bullets requires very high pressure.
Here are some pics of star bullets and you can see were the mold parts, which means the bullets in my pic. were poured not swaged.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=327521&stc=1&d=1441238711
Here are some pics of star bullets and you can see were the mold parts, which means the bullets in my pic. were poured not swaged.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=327521&stc=1&d=1441238711
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Waterhead
Senior Member
They Used to Be an Ordinary Bullet...Sort Of
Back in the 80's, I used to dig a fair amount of swaged bullets and *'s around the Petersburg area of Virginia. They were simply a pressed and turned (swaged) bullet of northern mfg.
Hard to believe but in the good old days, they were not looked at as something rare, well, just another type of minie ball. We seriously dug a fair number of them.
Heck, now days, a handful of any type cw bullet is a good day.
And jdjax is right, the ring on the top of that minie is a ramrod mark from driving the bullet home.
Thanks for showing!
Back in the 80's, I used to dig a fair amount of swaged bullets and *'s around the Petersburg area of Virginia. They were simply a pressed and turned (swaged) bullet of northern mfg.
Hard to believe but in the good old days, they were not looked at as something rare, well, just another type of minie ball. We seriously dug a fair number of them.
Heck, now days, a handful of any type cw bullet is a good day.
And jdjax is right, the ring on the top of that minie is a ramrod mark from driving the bullet home.
Thanks for showing!
61Cadillac
Elite Member
Curious, Did you clean the patina off of them or was there no patina when they came in?
Dsm_mechva
Forum Supporter
They appear later in the CW, Thanks to inventions like J.D. Custer's "Bullet Machine".
http://www.google.com/patents/US43102
http://www.google.com/patents/US43102
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Yes, that is why I posted that one.
When they come in from the field, we clean the dirt off of them with just a soft toothbrush and water.
Spectra1
Elite Member
Absouloutly they made and
used swage bullets in the civil war the northern war machine had the factories and they are outlined in the McKee and Mason book. Not only did they have swage in 6 spoke but also other patterns...the question is we know the " star swage " exists but has anyone other than GA boys found any? Attached is one of 50-75 I recovered in a Yankee camp... Confirmed yankee camp...Spectra1
Elite Member
And just in case for the doubters...here are the manufacturing patterns( not inclusive"
And not to be a trouble maker but all bullets don't have white patents when they are dug out of the ground some I find in swampy areas and water are as grey as the day they were dropped. I did put wrong page on this... But yall get the just of it .
Dsm_mechva
Forum Supporter
Did you just quote yourself ? 
Nice, No doubt here !
Nice, No doubt here !
Spectra1
Elite Member
Did you just quote yourself ?
Nice, No doubt here !
Yes because it's the only stinking way I can get the pics to load!
Spectra1
Elite Member
But the question still stands... Has anyone dug a swage with a star? They aRE unlisted, but a lot of strange variants turned up after M&M wrote the book and suppliment. This is a neat story to follow!
A relic guy has one for sale for 60 in Ga and claimed to only have had three others and they all were dug in Ga this my question.
I have only dug swage in Fresricksburg/stafford myself.
A relic guy has one for sale for 60 in Ga and claimed to only have had three others and they all were dug in Ga this my question.
I have only dug swage in Fresricksburg/stafford myself.
During the civil war this place was a Union camp. We do find Confederate bullets here, so this could very well be a Confederate bullet.
Spectra1
Elite Member
Bullets were much more interchangeably used then we sometime give credit for. I find Union stuff in confederste camps and vice versa so no tellin, that's why context is so jaded when it comes to figuring it out. Never understood finding a script I in a Yankee camp that had NO southern presence...we uncover strange things don't we?
See you soon reb!
