Thebigd81
Senior Member
Went to the field where I found a 1774 1/2 real last week and found a musket ball... The area had troops march through it during the revolutionary war
Looks good! And maybe dropped? Seems to still have it's shape
Looks good! And maybe dropped? Seems to still have it's shape
Rev war balls were the big boys . And it could very well be , or maybe a 69 cal. which could be from that period or CW era, either way it takes over a 100 yrs. to get that nice white patina , so all I can say is nice find and for sure one of those two periods for sure . Congrats on a nice round ball.
Also, all the muzzle loading guns from the civil war were sold off as surplus after the war and many were used for hunting right into the early 1900s.
It most certainly does not take over a hundred years to get a similar lead oxide coating on a lead item. It does depend somewhat on soil condition but I have some minies around here that I cast about fifty years ago and they already have the white patina. I have also dug post WW1 lead toys with a thick white patina or lead oxide coating. Regarding caliber and whence it came, in reality conjecture is useless, could have been fired from a myriad of possible muzzle loaders. Measuring with a caliper would give an accurate caliber but still would not identify what it was fired from. Also, all the muzzle loading guns from the civil war were sold off as surplus after the war and many were used for hunting right into the early 1900s.
Where there is one there is probably more. Congratulations.
Well I'm just a country boy born in raised in the southeren part of Va. Now living on the boarder of KC Mo. and Kansas. I'm tickled to see that after nearly 30 yrs. of digging colonial and CW relics we have a couple experts on the forum that think round balls turn white over night . And by the way the size of a round ball since there is such a variety will also put you in the general century it may have been used. But do appreciate the your input .
Don't think anyone is saying it isn't old, just can't prove it was dropped during the Rev or Civ for that matter. Or had any connection whatsoever to military.