Ammo What should i look for?

[Jack7171]

I came into some dug bullets and balls today,, I weighed the boxes and there is about 26 lbs on a bathroom scale. Most are .58 cal, but there is a few dozen what look like .69 as well as some round balls. I haven't got anyplace to hunt/dig near me, so I've never learned much about identifying different rounds, but after aquiring these today, I figure nows my chance. What is a good reference to purchase to help me ID these things, I see several books, but is there any one that's particularly better or easier to follow? I don't collect anything else (ww1,2,etc), so I'd like something that's maybe geared more to the stuff used in the cw. My second question would be, as I start to identify them, are there any certain bullets to look for as far as more valuable or rare or unique that I would want to set aside? Not because I want to sell, but it sure seems like some are harder to come by,, That may be a hard question to answer because I see some are 50 cents a piece in a bowl at a show, others are 40.00 apiece in their own Riker box, yet they look pretty much the same as the 50 cent ones to me. I obviously have a lot to learn.

 

[UCVRelics]

I came into some dug bullets and balls today,, I weighed the boxes and there is about 26 lbs on a bathroom scale. Most are .58 cal, but there is a few dozen what look like .69 as well as some round balls. I haven't got anyplace to hunt/dig near me, so I've never learned much about identifying different rounds, but after aquiring these today, I figure nows my chance. What is a good reference to purchase to help me ID these things, I see several books, but is there any one that's particularly better or easier to follow? I don't collect anything else (ww1,2,etc), so I'd like something that's maybe geared more to the stuff used in the cw. My second question would be, as I start to identify them, are there any certain bullets to look for as far as more valuable or rare or unique that I would want to set aside? Not because I want to sell, but it sure seems like some are harder to come by,, That may be a hard question to answer because I see some are 50 cents a piece in a bowl at a show, others are 40.00 apiece in their own Riker box, yet they look pretty much the same as the 50 cent ones to me. I obviously have a lot to learn. View attachment 431156

Nice group. It hard to see all piled in the box but here is what I see.
Green arrow Spencer
Red arrow Burnside hull
Blue arrow William cleaner bullet looks like all 3 types
Yellow arrow Henry.
The circles I would like to see some more photos as they are in the maybe rare category.
If you could spread them out a little more and maybe separate them as there are a lot of 3 ringer minnies 58 & 69 and round balls. Also here is a book on CW bullets.

 

[Jack7171]

Ah! Thanks,,,that's the kind of reference guide I was interested in,,,I'll certainly spread em out and get a closter shot of the circled ones, thx!

 

[Jack7171]

Nice group. It hard to see all piled in the box but here is what I see.
Green arrow Spencer
Red arrow Burnside hull
Blue arrow William cleaner bullet looks like all 3 types
Yellow arrow Henry.
The circles I would like to see some more photos as they are in the maybe rare category.
If you could spread them out a little more and maybe separate them as there are a lot of 3 ringer minnies 58 & 69 and round balls. Also here is a book on CW bullets.

View attachment 431160
View attachment 431161

 

[UCVRelics]

View attachment 431168View attachment 431169

can you clean them a little with a toothbrush and water so we can see more detail?

 

[Jack7171]

can you clean them a little with a toothbrush and water so we can see more detail?

 

[Jack7171]

can you clean them a little with a toothbrush and water so we can see more detail?

After I scrubbed this a bit more, looks like someone put a tiny x on the bottom

 

[UCVRelics]

View attachment 431175
After I scrubbed this a bit more, looks like someone put a tiny x on the bottom

I will try and look in my book when I can get to it. Could you spread the rest out so we can see just what you have. Just take the 3 ringers and round balls out of the way as we know what they are.

 

[Jack7171]

I will try and look in my book when I can get to it. Could you spread the rest out so we can see just what you have. Just take the 3 ringers and round balls out of the way as we know what they are.

Separating them definitely helped, once I started doing that, I began to see a definite "pattern" to what I got. Obviously mostly 58 and 69ers, but I do see now that I grouped them it's going to be easier for me to figure them out. One looks like it was sharpened, another looks like it had spirals carved on it,,

At the bottom of the second box was a couple of little pieces of paper that said episcopal seminary ft ward Alexandria ,, the other said Fairfax station

 

[UCVRelics]

Separating them definitely helped, once I started doing that, I began to see a definite "pattern" to what I got. Obviously mostly 58 and 69ers, but I do see now that I grouped them it's going to be easier for me to figure them out. One looks like it was sharpened, another looks like it had spirals carved on it,, View attachment 431186View attachment 431187 At the bottom of the second box was a couple of little pieces of paper that said episcopal seminary ft ward Alexandria ,, the other said Fairfax station

All those in the top row are Sharps, the ones in the big group to the left appear to be 44 cal pistol bullets

 

[UCVRelics]

The one on the bottom with the line in the base is a 58cal swag base bullet. The 2 you cleaned I need to get a caliber on them as they are unusual.

 

[Jack7171]

The one on the bottom with the line in the base is a 58cal swag base bullet. The 2 you cleaned I need to get a caliber on them as they are unusual.