A Day Near A Civil War Camp

[Geologyhound]

Finally made it out for a day near an old Civil War Union camp.  Found a lot of modern coins, one 45 Merc, a five cent Remington Beach token (I have no idea where that’s from), a 100 peso Mexican coin, and a fancy brass clasp/clip or something.

The minie balls are all from a flood plane.  I have found a number here in the past.  People who have seen them in person say they are real, but some people who have seen them on-line think some of them are modern replicas (Lyman mould).  The property has been under continuous ownership for about 100 years, and has reportedly not been subject to firearm usage in this area.  I don’t really know how to tell the difference between a replica and an original.  I hope most of these are original!

[JCR]

 You did very well. I like the fancy sash type buckle.   The bullets all have the color & patina consistent with being in constantly wet ground where oxygen levels stay low. I would call them not modern .  There are at least 4 different profiles shown.

[Bob S.]

Nice group of diverse finds! The modern Lyman Civil War Minie Ball molds cut a pour sprue from the top tip. If your Minie's have a flattened tip, chances are they are in fact replicas or later issue. Some Lyman molds also had a purely conical hollow base cavity. The Lyman .575 mold I used in my re-enacting days had the conical hollow base, but it still had the top sprue cutter. Most originals I have seen have both hollow conical and parabolic bases, but with a pointed tip. I suspect the thinner sided parabolic based Minie's gripped the rifling better upon detonation of the cartridge charge.

Most original 3-ring Union Minie balls I've found were manufactured using a spinning pressure mold which does not require a pour sprue. My research long ago found a predetermined size of lead billet was placed into in a mold and was highly pressured (thus melting) by a parabolic shaped mandrel which formed the hollow base cavity. This is why drop-found CW originals mostly have a pointed tip.

Most of the balls you have found show large cannelures on the sides which was a trait common for later Lyman molds. I never did research the history of the Lyman mold company oddly! I see 3 balls in your group that look more like possibly fired CW originals. The other balls could have come from soldier occupation during the Indian War period using .45-70 Springfield's. I would measure the diameters of the unflattened balls. If the three I mention are near .575" in diameter and the others are .45, then your site might have had co-habitation in two wars! 

[Bill (S. CA)]

Very cool post, Bob.  Were you using your trusty Apex?  I need to dust mine off and take it for a spin one of these days.   Working too many Saturdays and today it's 100 degrees in LA so you won't be seeing me "shade hopping" to keep from burning up!

[F350Platinum]

Great hunt Ghound! 

Love the "little bit of everything" you found, that's a nice bunch of Minié balls. Congrats!

[Rick N. MI]

Great finds. Cool Smoky Yogi Bear.

[Bob S.]

On 5/10/2025 at 3:06 PM, Bill (S. CA) said:

Very cool post, Bob.  Were you using your trusty Apex?  I need to dust mine off and take it for a spin one of these days.   Working too many Saturdays and today it's 100 degrees in LA so you won't be seeing me "shade hopping" to keep from burning up!

Hi Bill... Just so you are straight, the honor of those finds goes to Geologyhound. I just commented on the Minie Balls. But, yes, I'm still using my original 2020 Apex and very much enjoying it! I sold my camo version. Garrett's have always been reliable for me and owning two of the same detector could be considered redundant. I used to own two AT-PRO's, one as backup that hardly ever got used... You'd think I'd learn! 🙂

[Detecting with CM]

Good Job finding all those targets. There's some nice bullets; looks like all three ringers. 

[Geologyhound]

On 5/10/2025 at 11:33 AM, Bob S. said:

Nice group of diverse finds! The modern Lyman Civil War Minie Ball molds cut a pour sprue from the top tip. If your Minie's have a flattened tip, chances are they are in fact replicas or later issue. Some Lyman molds also had a purely conical hollow base cavity. The Lyman .575 mold I used in my re-enacting days had the conical hollow base, but it still had the top sprue cutter. Most originals I have seen have both hollow conical and parabolic bases, but with a pointed tip. I suspect the thinner sided parabolic based Minie's gripped the rifling better upon detonation of the cartridge charge.

Most original 3-ring Union Minie balls I've found were manufactured using a spinning pressure mold which does not require a pour sprue. My research long ago found a predetermined size of lead billet was placed into in a mold and was highly pressured (thus melting) by a parabolic shaped mandrel which formed the hollow base cavity. This is why drop-found CW originals mostly have a pointed tip.

Most of the balls you have found show large cannelures on the sides which was a trait common for later Lyman molds. I never did research the history of the Lyman mold company oddly! I see 3 balls in your group that look more like possibly fired CW originals. The other balls could have come from soldier occupation during the Indian War period using .45-70 Springfield's. I would measure the diameters of the unflattened balls. If the three I mention are near .575" in diameter and the others are .45, then your site might have had co-habitation in two wars! 

I do not have a pair of calipers, but the circumference of the three you circled all  work up to somewhere in the close order of .57 to .58 diameter.  The third one from the left in the bottom row is the smallest and is just a shade under a half inch (probably a .45).  All the rest appeared to be the same size as the first three.  Of the ones with the larger cannelures, there seem to be multiple varieties of basal cavities.  Some have a  conical point, some are more dome shaped (wider and narrower varieties), and at least one has a little circular flat spot at the top of the cavity dome.