Help Identifying Detecting Finds

[Andyf]

I've recently found some items detecting at a mid-1850s U.S. military camp, and I'm looking for help in identifying them as I don't know much about Civil War era relics. I've been told that the lead piece (1.5 cm in dia.) with the star is a shotgun slug, and if so, is it from the era? The second piece is similar in size to a 3-ring bullet. Thanks for the help - Andy

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

 

[east_beast]

The second item looks like a modern rifled slug.

 

[Andyf]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

Thanks!

 

[Andyf]

The second item looks like a modern rifled slug.

View attachment 504067

Are modern slugs made of lead? Both of these are very similar in composition to the 3 ring bullets and musket ball I found in the same area.

 

[R. Porter]

The three ring looks like it's been fired but it also looks like it's been pulled. Is it possible that someone tried to use it in a rifle that was too small a caliber and it got stuck and had to be pulled? You would think that would have burst the barrel and then there would be no point in pulling the stuck bullet, unless it was at the end of the barrel so that only a small portion of the barrel would have to be cut off. But then you would cut below the bullet, so why pull?

The thing that looks like a shotgun slug looks like a shotgun slug, but why the grooves? Did Civil War period slugs have grooves like that?

 

[Old Soldier]

The "three ring" looks like a hex bullet that has been fired through a rifled barrel since it shows rifling. A hex barrel has no rifling. No wonder it got stuck. BTW - a stuck bullet does not necessarily cause a barrel bulge (never mind a burst) - unless it is a poor or badly worn barrel. Most military (or Brit civilian) barrels would have been proofed to prevent this.

 

[Kurtlg]

Are modern slugs made of lead? Both of these are very similar in composition to the 3 ring bullets and musket ball I found in the same area.

Modern slugs are lead

 

[Kurtlg]

The three ring looks like it's been fired but it also looks like it's been pulled. Is it possible that someone tried to use it in a rifle that was too small a caliber and it got stuck and had to be pulled? You would think that would have burst the barrel and then there would be no point in pulling the stuck bullet, unless it was at the end of the barrel so that only a small portion of the barrel would have to be cut off. But then you would cut below the bullet, so why pull?

The thing that looks like a shotgun slug looks like a shotgun slug, but why the grooves? Did Civil War period slugs have grooves like that?

Slugs used in smoothbore shotgun barrels are grooved to help the slug spin. This improves accuracy. Based on the size I would think the slug here is 20 gauge.

 

[Andyf]

Slugs used in smoothbore shotgun barrels are grooved to help the slug spin. This improves accuracy. Based on the size I would think the slug here is 20 gauge.

Gotcha. Any guess on the age of the slug?

 

[Kurtlg]

Gotcha. Any guess on the age of the slug?

Slugs are used in cartridge firearms. During the Civil War roundballs were used in shotguns for larger game such as deer. Rifled types of slugs started out in the late 1800s. Old timers called them pumpkin balls. The confusion is that rifled slugs are used in smoothbore shotgun barrels. Some modern shotgun barrels are rifled and shoot a sabot slug. It can get a bit confusing and isn't important to this thread. I couldn't tell you how old it is but newer rifled slugs tend to be heavier than the one you have. All that being said an expert may show up saying what you have isn't a slug at all.

 

[Andyf]

Slugs are used in cartridge firearms. During the Civil War roundballs were used in shotguns for larger game such as deer. Rifled types of slugs started out in the late 1800s. Old timers called them pumpkin balls. The confusion is that rifled slugs are used in smoothbore shotgun barrels. Some modern shotgun barrels are rifled and shoot a sabot slug. It can get a bit confusing and isn't important to this thread. I couldn't tell you how old it is but newer rifled slugs tend to be heavier than the one you have. All that being said an expert may show up saying what you have isn't a slug at all.

Great, thanks for the info. I know next to nothing when it comes to firearms and ammunition. I have found items - a few bullets and coins that I can date to the time of the fort - but there are other items like those I posted that I'm trying to determine if they're from that era or from years since when the area has been farmland.

 

[east_beast]

Given the star symbol on the nose, my best guess is that it's an olden Rio Royal Star slug. I don't know when Rio first started making them but the company itself has been around for over 100 years.

RIO shotgun slugs | RIO AMMO

RIO shotgun slugs: Royal Star and Royal MG slugs for big game hunting. The best shotgun slugs. 12 and 20 gauge slug shotshell.

rioammo.com

My confidence in this guess is low. LOL

 

[Frederick14Va]

Western Super-X, shotgun slugs used a "star" marking on their slugs. Came about in mid 1920s. Likely either 12g or 16ga.

 

[Joe Whitworth]

AndyF, would you please measure the hex bullet across the flats. If it's .45 then how it wound up with rifling marks and in a six sided Whitworth barrel is a real mystery.

 

[Joe Whitworth]

Western Super-X, shotgun slugs used a "star" marking on their slugs. Came about in mid 1920s. Likely either 12g or 16ga.

Thanks for that bit of info, I've dug one or two of those myself over the years.

 

[Kurtlg]

Western Super-X, shotgun slugs used a "star" marking on their slugs. Came about in mid 1920s. Likely either 12g or 16ga.

I made my guess as 20 gauge based on the measurement of 1.5 cm which is .59 inches. A 20 gauge slug would be about .60 or .61.

 

[R. Porter]

Is this a hex barrel or does it just look that way at the muzzle?

 

[Andyf]

AndyF, would you please measure the hex bullet across the flats. If it's .45 then how it wound up with rifling marks and in a six sided Whitworth barrel is a real mystery.

Each flat side is .6 cm wide.

 

[Seduzal]

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