One really big bullet, Anyone know what it is?

xsiv4s

Member
I found this when I was looking through a very old box of bullets and at first, I thought it was a 4 gauge slug but the dimensions are too big (Nearly 1.5 inches at the band). Does anyone have a clue what it belongs to?
 

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fiver

Well-Known Member
that's big,,,, a 10ga. shot gun is only .750 by comparison.
maybe a 2 bore?
they used to use stuff that big defending the castle walls in Scotland during the mid 1800's.
 

xsiv4s

Member
Yeah, that's what I originally thought, but the size of this seems to fall in between the two. Something European?
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
4 gauge is .930". A pure lead sphere of 1.41" would weigh 9.6 oz, so not quite a 1-pounder and a little big for a 2 gauge. "Gauge" is a derivative of the 1# lead ball--12 gauge (.729") was the diameter of a lead sphere weighing 1/12#, and "gauge" holds true until we get into the 410 and 9mm shotguns, which use decimal and metric diameters respectively.

Our decimal and metric calibers are to some extent derived from this same standard, the 1# lead sphere. The .451" lead balls we used in the nominal "44 caliber" revolvers of the cap and ball era were actually "50 gauge", or 50 to the pound. (The 410 shotgun corresponds to a 67 gauge bore). The 375" balls used in the "36 caliber" C&B revolvers were 100/pound, the "31 caliber" (about .315") were 150/pound, and the "28 caliber" was 200/pound.
 
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Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
It looks fairly new, by cast lead standards.

I'm going to go with a projectile for one of those black powder cannon kits.

A golf ball cannon has a bore of about 1.6"-1.7" ?
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
my guess is that ring fills the bore and the body rides the lands, the hollow of course would open to fill the barrel totally.
it looks hollow pretty far up inside the cavity so there would be a lot of weight reduction.

it could be a heeled design for a cartridge and not for muzzle loader applications too... maybe?
 

Ian

Notorious member
Obturation ring on the bullet is common to rifled artillery. Could be golf-ball gauge as P&P surmised, the nose looks thick enough to handle BP without blowing out. The heel could be for a paper cartridge made from tp or paper towel tubes? More likely a cartridge projectile for a breech-loading, rifled cannon with an AOW tax stamp, or a cap for pipe fence posts.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
ha,, a tied paper case is something I didn't think of.
they used those back in the mid-late 1700's and the paper would tuck up into the hollow base of the bullet as it was put down the barrel.
I dimly recall the Brown Bess using something like that, but it wasn't a rifled barrel.
 

Missionary

Well-Known Member
Could be someone has a 1.5" cannon and fires that projectile at targets. Re-enactors have some interesting crew served items.
 

FrankCVA42

Active Member
Well a 40mm barrel comes in around 1.57" so could be for one of the home made black powder cannons, maybe based on the whitworth design. Frank
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I wonder if it is for an alternative mat'l and or for an air canon ?

A poly or poured acrylic or reenforced rubber/latex/silicone type , perhaps ?

37mm mortor ?

Idle thoughts .......
A clay (etc) fragile cap for fireworks .
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
Looking at it again, I think it's just some form of lead cap or plug for a pipe or container of some sort.
 

xsiv4s

Member
Looking at it again, I think it's just some form of lead cap or plug for a pipe or container of some sort.
??? No clue. I did look closer at it and at two points near the tip on opposite sides it looks like rifling engaged it.
 

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