Musket ball?

KiowaRd · Aug 6, 2018

Farmer thought this low place running across his hay meadow was wagon ruts from long ago here in S.E. KS and asked me to hunt it with my metal detector. I seriously doubt it is a wagon trail but happy to hunt it. Found this round led ball with a small flat spot on it which you can kinda make out in the picture. Figured it was a musket ball but I can't find any example of one that is .46" in diameter. What do you think? Musket ball or ???

Also found this .50 cal. bullet that obviously hit something quite hard. Don't know why it would show up here.

Any ideas?

Ohiodigger · Aug 6, 2018

Looks like a musket ball to me!

KiowaRd · Aug 6, 2018

Visited with my insurance agent this afternoon about another matter and showed them to him and found out he's been hunting with muzzle loaders for 25 years. Said he has hunted with the 50 cal. slugs like that many times and also confirmed that the small round one was probably a slug from a muzzle loading pistol.

Voriax · Aug 7, 2018

Looks like a musket ball, yep. and the other one seems to have rifling marks in it so it was probably fired from cartridge weapon

Voriax

KiowaRd · Aug 7, 2018

Voriax said:
Looks like a musket ball, yep. and the other one seems to have rifling marks in it so it was probably fired from cartridge weapon

Voriax

My ins. agent who has been muzzleloading for 25 years assured me that he's fired .50 cal. rounds like that thru his muzzleloader.

waltr · Aug 7, 2018

Voriax said:
Looks like a musket ball, yep. and the other one seems to have rifling marks in it so it was probably fired from cartridge weapon

Voriax

Almost all modern Muzzle Loaders have Rifled barrels. If Fact Rifled barrels was a technological edge the American Colonist had against the British in the Revolution.

Muskets are Smooth Bore like the British Brown Bess. If it has a Rifled barrel it is NOT a musket but a rifle, i.e, Kentucky or Pennsylvania Rifles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_rifle

Both the round ball and the mini look to be from a Modern Muzzle loading RIFLE. These become popular in the 1960's for sport and hunting and still quite popular. I also have found several modern round and mini muzzle loading bullets.

RBachman · Aug 7, 2018

KiowaRd said:
My ins. agent who has been muzzleloading for 25 years assured me that he's fired .50 cal. rounds like that thru his muzzleloader.

I have several modern and replica 0.50 caliber muzzle loading rifles including magnums and a flintlock that'll give up 2-inch groupings at 100 yards with a round ball. 0.50 is typical of modern black powder/muzzle loading rifles. Older style and more modern bullets are both still used today. I've even met hunters that cast their own bullets using replica (and at times, antique) molds.

The Colt 1860 Navy and 1860 Army pistols were both used extensively in the CW and both were 0.44 cal. So if the ball is of that era, it probably came from one of those guns, or another chambered the same.

waltr · Aug 7, 2018

Many replica 1851 Navy and 1860 Army revolvers around. I built an 1851 Navy years ago that fired .45 cal round balls. Great fun loading and shooting it.

Also build a .50 cal replica Hawking rifle. Very accurate out past 100 yards and fired patched round balls or cast minis.

Any round ball fired from these revolvers should have rifling marks (I found one like this) but typically a round ball from a rifled long gun is patched so no rifling marks but a mini is not patched so will have rifling marks.

Then of course, the round ball could have been dropped and not fired.

Musket ball?

KiowaRd

Ohiodigger

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KiowaRd

Voriax

KiowaRd

waltr

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RBachman

waltr

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