Is this lead ball a from a musket/pistol?

Squeaker

Full Member
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
184
It appears to have an indention from a ramrod or something. I don’t have accurate tools for weight, but measuring with a tape measure bring the diameter to .38-.50.

When I first found it I thought it might actually be a bearing or iron ball due to how much darker it is than mist CW lead I find. I have found some stuff that is more brown than white, but not this dark.

I found it in the vicinity (as the crow flies a mile or less) of a large well know CW campsite, but the particular property I found this isn’t known to have any activity or to have been part of the troop movement.

I’m usually pretty good about knowing if it’s CW ammunition or not, but this one has me a little stumped.

Edit: I have put it against a magnet and it doesn’t affect.
 

Attachments

  • 1EE44A37-172A-4F86-8A8A-D6E7B6514D64.jpg
    1EE44A37-172A-4F86-8A8A-D6E7B6514D64.jpg
    99.2 KB · Views: 570
  • C1889346-E401-42A2-998F-9C2EBE390C6A.jpeg
    C1889346-E401-42A2-998F-9C2EBE390C6A.jpeg
    118.5 KB · Views: 632
  • 247B8B7F-13FE-46D0-B760-EC10E067B73E.jpg
    247B8B7F-13FE-46D0-B760-EC10E067B73E.jpg
    126.2 KB · Views: 607
*Not an expert by no means.

But that nipple on it looks like it could be from a ram rod and loading.

If that is the case, it is a little odd that it isn't deformed if it was loaded/fired. I'll attach a pic of a .32 caliber I found that isn't deformed either but it has rifling grooves.
85b8625ce3a88a209af2e4c74d737be5.jpg
1b1856e9da622b8a33450f1f2f81141d.jpg


Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
 
It appears to be iron. Hard to tell from photo. If it is iron, it is not a musket projectile. If lead, it should be easily scratched to reveal the lead.
 
It looks to be a round ball with a little issue with the sprue. From your hand size it looks to be around a .69 cal. Maybe a little smaller.
 
That dimple on top looks like it could be from the top of the mold. They poured them into a mold then crimped them in a die so size them right. During the revolution most people probably poured their own. I hear they melted down a lot of their pewter table ware back then when lead was in short supply.
 
Happens quite often when the first rounds are poured and the mold is not hot enough. The first lead poured cools too quickly and you get a wrinkle.
 
Happens quite often when the first rounds are poured and the mold is not hot enough. The first lead poured cools too quickly and you get a wrinkle.

THIS! Perfect! An anomaly best experienced by pouring lead! Happens all the time!...so a guy does a bullet pour over the campfire, has a look, lets remelt and get the mold a bit hotter over the coals...Its a natural event casting campfire lead...gotta have that mold hot or you get the wrinkles!

OK, Stepping back in time, We could easily imagine.... a guy just says to himself in the darkness of night with a battle raging, raining like BillybeDamned, trying to make himself some slugs for the morrow...."OK...this one will stuff!" "I aint got no time for Quality Control!"

You gotta know this happened! Put yourself in the Life and Death situation....In the heat of a battle, a guy dont have time for casting perfect ballistics, doing accurate powder measures, or even running a patch! A guy would be punkin stuffing and letting fly, a guy would be swinging the rifle as a club...It was down and dirty, and this round shows this...I think its a hell of a trophy!

Just go out backyard tonight, get a woodfire going, and just TRY to melt lead and pour some perfect rounds? Then extrapolate this with 10,000 guys doing likewise for tomorrows big battle?? There would not be a burnable stick to be found in a 10 mile radius! After a while, a guy would say, "Good Enough"...especially without a flashlight or an optical comparitor device available!!! :laughing:

Its actually awesome to see this! Imagine trying to pour lead into some coccamamie mold over a campfire for tomorrows big push? Sheeit! A guy may as well get some sleep and charge the breach at dawn with an axe handle!
 
Last edited:
This looks like it was a pulled ball using a worm bullet puller. The one shown is a civil war era puller. Could be that the ball was removed by somthing like this. Having to pull the bullet/ball was quite common. Wet or defective powder caused a lot of misfires. The bullet must be pulled in order to reload the weapon and it would have scaring like this.

Just a hunch!
 

Attachments

  • B639191A-FEB4-4B0A-8FBB-5F622E00A85F.jpeg
    B639191A-FEB4-4B0A-8FBB-5F622E00A85F.jpeg
    59.6 KB · Views: 307
I hope it doesn’t throw a wrench in anyone’s replies, but the ball is a .44 caliber AT BEST. Definitely not a 50s- 70s caliber.

I don’t have a lot of hopes where I found this that there was some unknown CW skirmish or camp waiting to be discovered. My best guess is that it was a civilian making his own ammo during or immediately post war. There wasn’t any real known presence of soldiers or CW activity on the mountain I found it.

There was a mill at the base of the mountain, but we are talking a hike down that pops your ears if driving in a car.

I’m satisfied that it is indeed handmade lead ammo. To what purpose it was made and who/what it was intended to be shot at is a mystery for sure!
 
Back
Top Bottom