Civil war bullet?

Guns Magazine, August, 2008 by Jeff John

Q: I found the enclosed spent bullet in the state forestland near Chautauqua, New York, and I've never seen anything like it. I've shot benchrest, varmints, big game, wing and small game, so I am reasonably informed.

Using a metal detector, I've found Minie bullets, slugs and musket balls, but never anything like this. Granted, it is badly deformed, but I was hoping you could shed some light on it. Please feel free to keep it, reload it or throw it away, but what the heck fired this thing?

Frank Lisa

Dunkirk, New York

A: By diameter and weight, it appears you found a mooshed 69-caliber Minie ball, which was issued during the Civil War in considerable numbers. The 69-caliber musket was our standard musket bore from the Revolutionary War until the mid 1850s. Most M1816 and 1835 Springfield smoothbore muskets were converted from flintlock to percussion ignition in the 1850s and '60s. Along with the smoothbore percussion M 1842 muskets, if the barrel was judged sufficiently thick enough, many were rifled to accept the new Minie ball.

Both smoothbore and rifled muskets saw considerable use during the Civil War, although no battles took place in Chautauqua, New York. My guess is the ball was fired during a training exercise (in which case more may be around) or by a hunter who either mustered out from the service with his arm or bought it surplus. Surplus muskets sold for only a couple of dollars following the Civil War.

Your spent slug weighs 771 grains and, according to Dean Thomas' book Roundball to Rimfire Part L is right in the ballpark for weight. Oddly, .69 Minie bullets could weigh as little as 619 grains or as heavy as 873 grains depending on when and who made them according to Thomas. It must've been fun trying to hit anything, but if you did, I suspect these balls packed a serious wallop. And no, I won't throw it away. It's really kind of neat, actually.

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The books Roundball to Rimfire are available from Thomas Publications, P.O. Box 3031, Gettysburg, PA 17325, (717) 642-6600, www.thomaspublications. com.