Metal Detecting

Hello,

I had to give up detecting several years ago but I'm delighted to be back detecting again now with a new Garrett Euro Ace. I'm very lucky to have farmer family and friends, so I have permission on several local farms covering a total between them of several hundred acres.

I had my maiden voyage with the Euro Ace yesterday and amongst my finds was this interesting bullet so I thought I'd open my MDF account by asking if anyone can help me to identify it. It's made of lead, weighs exactly 30 grammes and is plugged with a substance which looks and feels like hard sealing wax. Being my first outing with the Euro Ace I was in all metal mode, and it gave a great signal on the bullet, telling me it was more than 20cm deep which was right since I recovered it from a depth of 25cm. I know nothing about this kind of find, so I'd be grateful for any advice on what the weapon might have been, and from what sort of date.

Anyway, it's great to be back out in the fresh air with a detector again, and I hope that someone can start my 'born again' detecting with an identification of this interesting find, (the scale is cm).

Minnie ball. This type of ammunition was used in muzzle loading rifles during the mid 19th century and was the type of bullet at the time of the American civil war.

As I mentioned, bullets aren't my thing at all, but I just automatically assumed this was the business end of a cartridge type bullet loaded into the breach rather than being muzzle loaded as it is, and because of that I also assumed it would be much later than mid 19th century. Thanks very much for your help, and I think I'd better brush up on my bullets !!

PeeBee wrote:... I think I'd better brush up on my bullets !!

Don't brush this one too hard, you'll get lead poisoning!

Interesting find. Packed a punch those minnie bullets...

OK, now I'm totally confused....I happened to bump into a friend this evening who's a well-respected local historian and curator of our local museum. I told him about my bullet and he wanted to see it. Straight away he said it was a .577 round from a Snider-Enfield rifle used by the local volunteer rifle regiments in around 1860- 1870. He explained that the many and various local volunteer rifle regiments and Yeomen Cavalry Regiments were amalgamated in the late 1800s into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. He said to do a You Tube search on Sinder-Enfield rifle, which I've done, and came up with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ima7Tbwydn8

So it looks like this was a cartridge round after all, yet I've also done some research on the minnie ball following your ID and there's no doubt that it's a candidate for that too, so as I say, I'm totally confused now...... it's great to be back detecting again !!!!

The plug in the bottom of your bullet is to help it expand and contact the sniders rifled barrel.
Wax,clay and wood have been used.The snider "bit relates to the conversion,of enfield muzzle loading rifles,by cutting off the end of the barrel n percussion nipplefitting a snider hinged breech,which coverted it into a breechloader.It was a transision weapon and did not feature fore long.before the .577 round was necked down to .450.for the Martini (actioned)Henry.
Famous at "Rookes Drift etc

midas wrote:The plug in the bottom of your bullet is to help it expand and contact the sniders rifled barrel.
Wax,clay and wood have been used.The snider "bit relates to the conversion,of enfield muzzle loading rifles,by cutting off the end of the barrel n percussion nipplefitting a snider hinged breech,which coverted it into a breechloader.It was a transision weapon and did not feature fore long.before the .577 round was necked down to .450.for the Martini (actioned)Henry.
Famous at "Rookes Drift etc

Now there's a man who knows his 19th century bullets !!

Excellent reply

I agree thanks for the interesting info RRPG. And yes its defo a "4 Ringer" minie ball round, I suggest you go onto the Wikepeda site, it tells a lot of the technical stuff surrounding muzzle loading weapons and their ammunition.

It was midas. What I know about 19th century bullets can be written on one of them! WW2 is a different matter, but stuff this old.....clueless