Musket Ball?
- Thread starter ksdiver
- Start date
bearbqd
Elite Member
Now I'm confused. I used to think these were called mini balls, but a historian friend of mine said that the bullets were called mini balls after the man minnie who designed them. I have heard the term musketball and have several of these which I showed to him. He thinks they are more likely what he terms "grape shot". According to him, various sized cannons fired anything from full size cannon balls to loaded shot of various sizes. What you basically had was a giant shotgun that could cut huge swaths through men with heavy devistation. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
ksdiver
Full Member
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Intersting info bearbqd. I know very little about musket balls or any ammo for that matter. The area where I found this was not part of any military conflict (at least I think it wasn't), so I'm guessing it was used in a "single shot" type weapon - probably for hunting. The shot must have missed it's intended target, settled in the woods, which later became the field.
trobaughokc
Full Member
Min"ie ball` (?). [From the inventor, Captain Mini'e, of France.]
A conical rifle bullet, with a cavity in its base plugged with a piece of iron, which, by the explosion of the charge, is driven farther in, expanding the sides to fit closely the grooves of the barrel.
© Webster 1913
While there are many accounts of troops charging bravely into a "hail of grape" there is little fact in this. Grape shot was used very little on the land battlefield during the Civil War. The ammunition encountered by the soldiers was called canister, one of the war's most deadly rounds. Canister was basically a tin can packed with sawdust and musket balls which, when fired, spread out and turned the artillery piece into a giant shotgun. At close range against massed infantry this round was devastating, cutting huge swaths through the attacking men.
Grape shot was widely used in 18th century wars, but by the time of the American Civil War, grape was primarily used by navel gun crews. Similar to canister, grape shot consisted of metal balls, but unlike canister which fired 76 balls, a round of grape shot consisted of nine or so balls and were usually not packed in cans. A standard round consisted of three tiers of three 2 inch diameter balls separated by iron plates and held together by a central rod which connected the top and bottom plates. Another design consisted of an iron bottom plate with a central pin around which the balls were stacked. A cloth bag, usually of canvas, covered the balls which was in turn lashed around with a cord. The resulting round of ammunition looked like a bunch of grapes -- hence the name "grape shot". Grape shot, like canister, would spread out with a shotgun effect once leaving the muzzle of the gun, though with a much greater range than canister
A conical rifle bullet, with a cavity in its base plugged with a piece of iron, which, by the explosion of the charge, is driven farther in, expanding the sides to fit closely the grooves of the barrel.
© Webster 1913
While there are many accounts of troops charging bravely into a "hail of grape" there is little fact in this. Grape shot was used very little on the land battlefield during the Civil War. The ammunition encountered by the soldiers was called canister, one of the war's most deadly rounds. Canister was basically a tin can packed with sawdust and musket balls which, when fired, spread out and turned the artillery piece into a giant shotgun. At close range against massed infantry this round was devastating, cutting huge swaths through the attacking men.
Grape shot was widely used in 18th century wars, but by the time of the American Civil War, grape was primarily used by navel gun crews. Similar to canister, grape shot consisted of metal balls, but unlike canister which fired 76 balls, a round of grape shot consisted of nine or so balls and were usually not packed in cans. A standard round consisted of three tiers of three 2 inch diameter balls separated by iron plates and held together by a central rod which connected the top and bottom plates. Another design consisted of an iron bottom plate with a central pin around which the balls were stacked. A cloth bag, usually of canvas, covered the balls which was in turn lashed around with a cord. The resulting round of ammunition looked like a bunch of grapes -- hence the name "grape shot". Grape shot, like canister, would spread out with a shotgun effect once leaving the muzzle of the gun, though with a much greater range than canister
farmall
Forum Supporter
It could be a modern black power ball. They are still used for hunting in Oklahoma.
Oklahunter
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trobaughokc said:
Interesting read, Bob - thanks. The things we do to each other, though....
bearbqd
Elite Member
After reading more about it, I found that this size "shot" was also loaded with the larger musket balls (2 per load) and were all three fired together. Several have been found with all three fused together.
simonthesearcher
Forum Supporter
it is one
Thats a musket ball for sure,i got quite a few of em
Thats a musket ball for sure,i got quite a few of em
Disoriented
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As previously posted, it could be a modern round ball fired from a muzzle loading black powder firearm. At dime sized, it would be about 58-caliber. Round balls were loaded from the muzzle by wrapping in a cloth "patch" to form a tight seal to the barrel and ramming down over the powder. Minie Balls were seated over the powder without a patch. The Minie was a conical shaped bullet with a hollow base. Expanding gases from the burning powder forced the bullet sides outward from pressure inside the hollow base forming a seal. I've witnessed 2 stacked round balls fired from a black powder firearm, and the balls did not fuse together but struck the target about 3-inches apart from 25-yards away. It was actually common in an intense battle for 2 bullets to strike head on and fuse together. There are actually multiple examples displayed at a battlefield museum at Petersburg, VA. Some examples were Minie Balls with the points fused together, which were certainly not stack loaded.
teotwawki12
Elite Member
Howdy new member! Just so you are aware, I can't recall ever seeing any of these folks who were on here back in 2006 posting anything since I have been here since 2017!
But hey, you never know...
Disoriented
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I didn't actually notice the date. I was browsing and saw something that interested me.
teotwawki12
Elite Member
Fair enough!
