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Thread: Help with dating bullets?

  1. #1
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    Help with dating bullets?

    Can anyone help with age and/or type of bullets?

    These are from a recent hunt at a site where I am trying so additional research and any info you can provide would be very helpful. This is not a battle site, but a wooded site along a waterway.

    Thanks!


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    Global Moderator Ill Digger's Avatar
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    I don't claim to be some kind of expert on bullets but those look kinda modern to me. They remind me of some muzzle loader ammo I've seen before. The second one from the left on the bottom row looks like a handgun round to me. But again, I could be waaaay off.

    Have you come across any coinage at this site? To possibly help you date the activity there?
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    Senior Member fyrffytr1's Avatar
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    I agree with Ill digger. They are all modern. The bottom row are called wad cutters and may be 38 caliber. Top left looks like a 45 caliber and the next two look like muzzle loaders. Accurate measurements of diameter and length will help ID them correctly.
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  4. #4
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fyrffytr1 View Post
    I agree with Ill digger. They are all modern. The bottom row are called wad cutters and may be 38 caliber. Top left looks like a 45 caliber and the next two look like muzzle loaders. Accurate measurements of diameter and length will help ID them correctly.
    Thank you for the comments!

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  5. #5
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ill Digger View Post
    I don't claim to be some kind of expert on bullets but those look kinda modern to me. They remind me of some muzzle loader ammo I've seen before. The second one from the left on the bottom row looks like a handgun round to me. But again, I could be waaaay off.

    Have you come across any coinage at this site? To possibly help you date the activity there?
    Thanks Tim! I have found nothing yet except these bullets. This is old woods and has been public land in an urban area for 90+ years, so that is why I am asking for some ID help.
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  6. #6
    I'm definitely not an ammo expert either, but I do know that lead gets a white patina on it when it has been in the ground a long time.

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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Two-Cent View Post
    ...that lead gets a white patina on it when it has been in the ground a long time.
    I've always heard about 150 years but I don't know if any scientific studies have been done on the subject.
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  8. #8
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    These were not white, but were a grey color similar to the color in the crevices as you see them now, until I ran them in the tumbler with a bunch of other lead for scrap. I just have never really found any bullets like this, so that is why I posted. This is along a waterway and there is a pretty large area with a lot of giant oak trees that are probably 150-225+ years old on rise above a river.

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