Author Topic: old lead  (Read 1381 times)

Offline Nordnecker

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old lead
« on: November 04, 2018, 03:29:30 PM »
A friend gave me these.

As I've never found anything like these, I can't believe how out of round these balls are. He told me one minnie ball wasn't fired, the other one was. It looks to me like the fired one was tumbling when it hit. Thoughts? Comments...
« Last Edit: November 04, 2018, 03:33:48 PM by Nordnecker »
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Offline Pukka Bundook

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Re: old lead
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2018, 04:32:28 PM »
They look to have been around for some time, Nordnecker.
As you say, that ball mould was getting a bit slack!  Always made me wonder when balls are recovered with a great sprue still attached, but had been fired.
I found out fairly recently though, that at one time the sprue was tied into a paper cartridge which contained the powder.   (This in Europe and before the ALR time-frame.)
Re the fired Minnie;  when they hit, they do all sorts of queer things, and often the skirt gets folded up unevenly, so the one in question looks no better or worse than we usually see.

Online smylee grouch

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Re: old lead
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2018, 05:52:21 PM »
Those round balls look like they have a belt around them. Would that be the Brunswick bullet?

Offline Nordnecker

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Re: old lead
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2018, 06:03:55 PM »
I don't know anything about these projectiles. That's why I'm asking. The balls don't seem to have a belt. The two sides of the mold was really off. I tried to measure them, but my digital caliper has gone wonky. I assumed they were (aprox) .69 cal balls. Maybe they were "grapeshot"? These were found in Highland Springs, VA. Moderators let me know if this is not appropriate.
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Offline Daryl

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Re: old lead
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2018, 08:29:04 PM »
Richard's spot-on about the Minnie tumbling. They did that inside bodies of men - "the accursed Minnie, coursing through the soft parts of the body, shirking the bones and traveling around them, unlike the round ball which smashed the bones asunder creating most grievous wounds".  - or words to that effect by the Surgeon General, Crimean War.

Note perhaps of interest, from the Firearms of the American West, notation about the shooting properties of the Minnie in it's various form and diameter.  The "Jaugers", which (some) many called the issue .58 Minnie rifles, were less accurate than the .69 Minnies which were used in the rifled muskets, ie: the model 1842 musket and the previous, musket 1822?, which were rifled to shoot the 730gr. Minnie bullets.

Should just about be able to measure the one side of the mould, from those balls, right beside the mould's dividing line. By 1820something, the round balls for the muskets had been increased in size by 10 thou, to .650" while the power charge in the paper ctgs. had been reduced to 135gr., which included the prime.  The 1842 Musket was the first cap lock US musket.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2018, 11:18:59 PM by Daryl »
Daryl

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