100 caliber minie ball

[Kelly408]

I was in a small museum that had on display a 100 caliber minie ball. A sign said it came from a revolving cannon. There was no one there to give more details. Can anyone clue me in?

 

[johan_steele]

Likely from a Hotchkiss rapid fire gun. Several weapons similar to the gatling gun came about in the last half of the 19th century.

 

[Kelly408]

Thanks for the reply. But when I search Hotchkiss the smallest caliber I find is 37mm, and that's a bunch bigger than the 1". They did say it is an extremely rare bullet.

 

[johan_steele]

1" or 100 cal is about 25mm. Without seeing it all I can give is a guess. There is a modern .95 cal rifle for hunting dinosaurs and 25mm is not all that uncommon today. Also museums aren't always accurate about what they have.

 

[Carronade]

There was a 1" Nordenfelt gun used mainly on ships in the 1870-80s. Not strictly a machine gun because it was manually operated using a lever. It often came in four-barreled mounts; IIRC one is shown in action in the movie Khartoum.

 

[civilwarincolor]

Since the Minié ball was only used on muzzle loaders I suspect that this may have been a large conical shell from a breech loading gun so technically not a Minié ball.

Any chance you have a picture of the shell, or remember which museum it was from?

 

[civilken]

I would like to see a picture of that I have heard of the four barrel gun that was used but those bullets were encased . I hope I use the proper term for the bullet.

 

[civilwarincolor]

I would like to see a picture of that I have heard of the four barrel gun that was used but those bullets were encased . I hope I use the proper term for the bullet.

I am assuming that you are talking about the Nordenfelt. Yes the round was encased like a modern round.

Here is a 4 and a 10 barrel

version.

 

[Story]

Possibly a relic from the Span-Am War, since Spain used a plethora of Nordenfelts in both .43 Spanish (rifle caliber) and 25mm. See http://armasdefilipinas.blogspot.com/2011/07/1873-maxim-nordenfelt-multi-barrel.html
Did the projectile look like the one fitted to this casing?
http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploads//monthly_11_2014/post-129350-0-60854900-1416073791.jpg

Here's an ex-Spanish 1 3/4" single-barrel http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1435-369/

 

[civilken]

I am assuming that you are talking about the Nordenfelt. Yes the round was encased like a modern round.

Here is a 4 and a 10 barrel

version.

wwell thank you very much for the pictures and the explanation what a weapon.

 

[redbob]

There was a 2" lead ball that was used in a Union Woodruff Gun.

 

[gary]

What about the Confederate revolving cannon at the Petersburg Siege Museum? It looked like a huge cylinder from a 1851 Colt revolver.

 

[civilwarincolor]

What about the Confederate revolving cannon at the Petersburg Siege Museum? It looked like a huge cylinder from a 1851 Colt revolver.

Does not make it a Minié ball. Most of the other types of shells discussed here are self contained shells that have the primer, powder and bullet as one single piece. The Minié ball was an improvement over other rifles of the day, but it still required the bullet, powder and primer to be loaded separately. I suspect that what the museum was calling at 100 caliber Minié ball was actually a conical shaped bullet that was missing the shell with the powder and primer.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

IMHO, it is most likely from a 1" Gatling Gun cartridge.
J.

 

[Kelly408]

The museum is the Cayce Historical Museum in South Carolina. I spent some time with the curator and the way he described the gun made me think he was speaking about the Asa George automatic cannon, complete with shield. His facts didn't exactly match up with what I've read (he said 3 were produced with 3 more ordered, I've read 6 were produced with orders for 2 more). No pics or sketches seem to exist detailing this gun, including caliber. Asa George did have a patent for the gun, but all that info was destroyed when Richmond burned. When I mentioned the Gatling gun, he said the bullet for that weapon is a little longer, and came after the Civil War.

I've also spoken with the conservationist for the South Carolina State Museum and he seemed to think the bullet is from the Asa George gun, saying a few bullets had been found in the Columbia SC area.

I love mysteries!

 

[civilwarincolor]

The museum is the Cayce Historical Museum in South Carolina. I spent some time with the curator and the way he described the gun made me think he was speaking about the Asa George automatic cannon, complete with shield. His facts didn't exactly match up with what I've read (he said 3 were produced with 3 more ordered, I've read 6 were produced with orders for 2 more). No pics or sketches seem to exist detailing this gun, including caliber. Asa George did have a patent for the gun, but all that info was destroyed when Richmond burned. When I mentioned the Gatling gun, he said the bullet for that weapon is a little longer, and came after the Civil War.

I've also spoken with the conservationist for the South Carolina State Museum and he seemed to think the bullet is from the Asa George gun, saying a few bullets had been found in the Columbia SC area.

I love mysteries!

Thanks for sharing the photos. I am certainly no arms expert, but I would say that based on the description alone that they disqualified this as a Minié ball.

Rarest Miniball?

After extensive research this 100-caliber Civil War miniball is believed to be the only known surviving example test fired from a newly-developed REVOLVING CANNON at Arsenal Hill, Columbia South Carolina by General Wade Hampton near the end of the war
​

While it has the look of a Minié ball, it was fired from a revolving cannon and the Minié ball was muzzle loading weapon, not a Gatling style gun. For that reason I would say that it is similar in shape, but would have been self contained and therefore does not have all the aspects of a Minié ball.

Hopefully others can comment further.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Thanks for sharing the photos. I am certainly no arms expert, but I would say that based on the description alone that they disqualified this as a Minié ball.

Rarest Miniball?

After extensive research this 100-caliber Civil War miniball is believed to be the only known surviving example test fired from a newly-developed REVOLVING CANNON at Arsenal Hill, Columbia South Carolina by General Wade Hampton near the end of the war
​

While it has the look of a Minié ball, it was fired from a revolving cannon and the Minié ball was muzzle loading weapon, not a Gatling style gun. For that reason I would say that it is similar in shape, but would have been self contained and therefore does not have all the aspects of a Minié ball.

Hopefully others can comment further.

Agreed.

While it's obviously not a Minié ball, I too think the museum made an error with their description.

 

[Cpl. Smith]

1" or 100 cal is about 25mm. Without seeing it all I can give is a guess. There is a modern .95 cal rifle for hunting dinosaurs and 25mm is not all that uncommon today. Also museums aren't always accurate about what they have.

Dino steaks?