Minie Ball Caliber help?

[AlexDaugherty]

Does anyone have a clue as to what caliber this bullet is? Found in an area with lots of other standard civil war minie balls. Could it be a miss cast? I thought I have seen one like this before, but I can't find anything close to it!

 

[Mikey48]

If you measure with calipers across the solid, uncrushed part of the bullet, you can determine the caliber.
I don't remember any CW period bullet with that shape in the casting. The shape looks more like a large caliber,
modern air rifle slug which can be 30 cal. to 50 cal.

 

[duggap]

To me, it looks like your bullet has been carved on.

 

[EmuDetector]

I'll be home tonight, there's a few bullets look like that in one of my books if no one else chimes in

 

[EmuDetector]

Sorry, just remembered to do this. So I'm my book ( handbook of civil war bullets and cartridges) there's no exact match. The book obviously doesn't have every variant and piece known to man, but I found a few similars that could be a long the lines of yours if it helps a starting point for your search. Remember too, people often cut and modified rounds and had poor castings as well.

Look into:
- Shaler bullets (they had weird designs with large cone bases)
- Nesler bullets (large cone bottoms and single piece tops.

 

[AlexDaugherty]

Sorry, just remembered to do this. So I'm my book ( handbook of civil war bullets and cartridges) there's no exact match. The book obviously doesn't have every variant and piece known to man, but I found a few similars that could be a long the lines of yours if it helps a starting point for your search. Remember too, people often cut and modified rounds and had poor castings as well.

Look into:
- Shaler bullets (they had weird designs with large cone bases)
- Nesler bullets (large cone bottoms and single piece tops.

Thanks for the information, it gives me a good direction to go towards. I will need to pick up a copy of that book!
I did find an article on minie balls being carved into chess or game pieces. The examples looked pretty close. Here is a link to the article:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/boredom-in-the-camp-discoveries-from-vicksburg-campaign-sites.167953/

 

[Fredneck]

Soldier carved bullet, likely a Bishop chess piece

 

[EmuDetector]

Thanks for the information, it gives me a good direction to go towards. I will need to pick up a copy of that book!
I did find an article on minie balls being carved into chess or game pieces. The examples looked pretty close. Here is a link to the article:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/boredom-in-the-camp-discoveries-from-vicksburg-campaign-sites.167953/

It's a pretty good little book you can grab on Amazon, the nice thing is it has dimensions and weights for everything. But carved pieces are a great find. I have everything from improvised rifling, a fish, a necklace charm, fishing weights, poker chips, and even a tiny wine glass. Good luck!

 

[Fredneck]

It's a pretty good little book you can grab on Amazon, the nice thing is it has dimensions and weights for everything. But carved pieces are a great find. I have everything from improvised rifling, a fish, a necklace charm, fishing weights, poker chips, and even a tiny wine glass. Good luck!

Your wine glass could represent the Goblet of the Holy Grail, others have been found.
On the subject of carved chess pieces, I finally have completed one side of the board after 30 years of digging them.