I'll spare this one from the casting pot

[Tallbald]

My city, Bowling Green, was the Confederate Capitol of Kentucky. Like most other Southern cities it saw action during the War of Northern Aggression. My wife Penny's father is a minister and retired farmer, and Penny found this Minie ball in a tobacco patch he had turned, down the road on some leased property one county over in Southern Butler County. Don't know if it was Southern or Northern in origin, but we have it in a curio cabinet in our hall With two bands around the hollow base, the front mikes out at 0.656 to 0.675 inch so I'm not sure what gun fired it. or if it may even date to before the WoNA. I can't weigh it because the only grain scale I have is my Lee which goes to up 100 grains. I wish it could talk (I think). Just thought I'd share photos. This one won't end up in the melt pile though. Don
121795
121796

[fredj338]

You bet. Some awhile back had a pain can full & wanted to melt them down. I think we talked him into selling those little pieces of history instead.

[leadhead]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the ones with 2 grooves were union
and the ones with one groove were confederate. Nice find none the less.
Denny

[ShooterAZ]

I found a few of them with my metal detector in Tennessee some years ago. I still have them...not going into the melt pot!

[MBTcustom]

That looks like a two ring Prussian. The diameter is right.
They were swaged boolits IIRC.
I want to say they were used by the north?
Really cool find.

If that boolit could talk it would probably say "Dang it!!! I missed!!!" LOL!

[theperfessor]

If that boolit could talk it would probably say "Dang it!!! I missed!!!" LOL!

Or maybe not...

[MBTcustom]

Ok, seriously. It's rare to find those without any sort of damage. Especially to the sprue. Say we made a bunch of those out of pure lead, and fired them at a BG dummy dressed it full confederate uniform, and shot it at 100-200 yards away. How in the world could it punch through and not have any damage done to the nose?
Whatcha think?

[Tallbald]

"I missed". Yes it makes me wonder. A soft tissue pass- through-hit may not have caused deformation as it would I guess if it was a bone impact hit. Would also account for finding it in the first place..... Don

[Janoosh]

Use a magnifying glass to see if it has rifling impressions. If not, 69 cal smoothbore.??

[ShooterAZ]

Some of the ones I found were dropped. They are in perfect condition, no damage at all. You can even tell some were nosed poured by looking at the sprue cut at the top of the boolit.

[303Guy]

Cool find! My Dad had some 455 Martini Henry boolits (and cases) picked up on a battle field in Zululand between the Zulu and the British on July 4 1879, that being the Battle of Ulundi, a place near where we lived when I was a kid. Mmm .... memories. I wonder what he did with them?

[xs11jack]

Someone once posited that a fair amount of bullets were dropped in the heat of conflict, and that's probably what you have.
Ole Jack

[Tallbald]

I know I'd be dropping more than a bullet in the heat of battle. Just my thoughts. Don

[1911cherry]

If you are gonna waste that fine boolit - shoot it at a Yankee dummy.........

[rondog]

Can you imagine getting hit with one of those monsters.....no wonder so many men died and lost limbs.

[William Yanda]

Then there were the supplies raided from one side by the other. Yeah, I wish it could talk.

[Blammer]

I'm kind of glad bullets DON'T talk, it would be a never ending conversation of thousands in my basement....