Would like help on .58 with 8 groove

[jblee10]

I found a bullet in the high desert of northeastern California, right near the Nevada line in Indian and Pioneer country. The bullet is just like a civil war three ring minie and weighs 470 grains. I would have guessed that it was shot in an 1873 Springfield, except that it has 8 groove rifling marks. The lands are roughly .050 inch and the groove roughly .150 inch. I guess there is a posiblility that it is not as old as I think, but it looks nearly as old as bullet dug up in civil war battlefields. Anybody have any ideas of what it may have be shot out of? I'm leaning towards some sort of trade rifle.

[Good Cheer]

Are close up pictures possible?

[Nobade]

Possibly a 577 Snider or 577 Nitro with a Kreiger or Pac Nor barrel?

One of our customers has a 577 Nitro Ruger #1 with a 8 groove Kreiger on it. He shoots it quite a bit with minie' bullets and black powder.

[405]

Hmmm, 8 groove sure sounds like it was fired out of a modern barrel not unlike a Marlin MG or one of the custom makers. But, if it has lots of oxidation from age then no telling? The only thing that comes to mind in a 150 year old 58 cal rifle would be an early Remington Zouave 1863... but they had 7 groove rifling. Another original 19th century arm with 7 groove would be the early M1841 Mississippi but it was 54 cal. Will be interesting to see how this is pinned down.

[fgd135]

My repro 1862 Richmond rifle musket has a .577" Bill Large 8-groove barrel, but I didn't think it had the range to shoot that far. No doubt someone else might have a similarly custom-barreled rifle musket out your way.