Wow! I haven't been here for over 5 years. Which is about how long it's been since I cast any boolits.
But never mind that.
While walking recently, I found along the sidewalk the object depicted in photos attached and description below. To all appearances, it is a large-caliber bullet but the location is a suburban area. To my knowledge, this has never been near a firing range or military aircraft operations area.
However, the following circumstances apply: the area is on the southern fringe of Prescott Valley, AZ and has only in the last 25 years come under development. Right now, the immediate area is under heavy residential development requiring extensive terraforming: they’re hauling out a lot of dirt along the road I was walking. So whatever this is could have been dug up by heavy equipment and loaded onto an outbound truck, falling off along the way.
First thought: I am dismissing the idea that this is a modern black-powder projectile. As an .80 caliber bullet weighing one and a half ounces I cannot imagine firing this from the shoulder – but I could be wrong.
I reload small arms ammunition and cast my own lead bullets. This slug shows evidence of having once having been in a cartridge case: witness the evidence of a sealant in the area that would have been in the brass of a case. The chamfered base implies seating it into a case. The shiny ring may be an artifact of having been removed from one.
I know of no modern (20th century and up) U.S. military ammunition that is not a jacketed bullet. This slug, with its hollow core, puts me in mind of a Minie ball, designed to expand and seal the bore upon gas impulse from the burning powder. Might the inner ring in the cavity been intended to maintain the integrity of the base at its departure from the bore, while the area inside the base, with a thinner wall, would expand? Thus, I wonder if this slug might date back to black-powder days, being intended for use in a large-bore, mounted weapon: rifled – or a smoothbore?
It shows no sign of having been fired, that is, it lacks impact deformities of any sort. Deposits in the cavity appear to be mineralization.
As an aside that probably doesn’t relate, Generals Crook and Miles based their pursuit of the Apaches in the 1870s and 1880s at Fort Whipple, only about eight miles from here on the north side of Prescott, AZ.
EDIT: Oops! I see I did not put LOA in the pictures. This thing is 1.563" (39.5mm) long.
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1 1/2 oz doesn't raise an eyebrow...size that to .735 and they will line up to load it!!!
Originally Posted by Dusty Bannister
you may be on to something with that. Same holds true for the shotgun connection Hogtamer mentioned. A 10 gauge bore is .775", closer even that a 12.
