Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
New member
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[size=large]Knocked on a couple of doors along Lee's retreat route. Elderly lady gave me permission to detect her 1 acre front yard that borders the road, told me I could have at the 15 acres of woods at the back (save that for another day). Started detecting along the edge of the road, picked up 2 flat buttons, a Spencer base, and this friction primer... this is my first whole friction primer. These were inserted into the touch holes of the cannon, and a lanyard was used to jerk the wire out, igniting the primer, thus firing the cannon... at least, I think that's how it works in theory. Anyway, always wanted a whole one, and I think its a cool find. [/size]
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[size=large]First of 7 bullets. I love bullets. Bullets are the heartbeat and pulse of the Civil War. Anytime you're finding bullets you know "they were there". Kind of gives me goose bumps.[/size]
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[size=large]AH HA!... Cool. Who knows what this is? I started circling on this spot where I found this, hoping to find the rest of the belt plate. What you're looking at is the hooks that go on the back of a lead-filled belt plate. I did manage to find a section of the lead (see last photo), but no belt plate yet. The chances of finding it in one piece are slim, or even finding it for that matter, but I'll take another shot at it. Hey, I figure I got almost half of it, that oughta count for something.[/size]
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[size=large]Isn't this a neat field? It even has detecting lines to keep you on track. [/size]
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[size=large]I placed the hooks on top of a picture of a belt plate so you can see where it went. Lead would have been poured over it, and it would have looked like the plate below it.[/size]
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[size=large]Digs for today: 7 bullets, 6 flat buttons, Spencer base, friction primer, belt plate hooks, part of the lead that went in the belt plate, and a couple other whatnots. Oops, left a flat button on the counter.[/size]
[size=large]Knocked on a couple of doors along Lee's retreat route. Elderly lady gave me permission to detect her 1 acre front yard that borders the road, told me I could have at the 15 acres of woods at the back (save that for another day). Started detecting along the edge of the road, picked up 2 flat buttons, a Spencer base, and this friction primer... this is my first whole friction primer. These were inserted into the touch holes of the cannon, and a lanyard was used to jerk the wire out, igniting the primer, thus firing the cannon... at least, I think that's how it works in theory. Anyway, always wanted a whole one, and I think its a cool find. [/size]
[attachment 91837 2.jpg]
[size=large]First of 7 bullets. I love bullets. Bullets are the heartbeat and pulse of the Civil War. Anytime you're finding bullets you know "they were there". Kind of gives me goose bumps.[/size]
[attachment 91838 3.jpg]
[size=large]AH HA!... Cool. Who knows what this is? I started circling on this spot where I found this, hoping to find the rest of the belt plate. What you're looking at is the hooks that go on the back of a lead-filled belt plate. I did manage to find a section of the lead (see last photo), but no belt plate yet. The chances of finding it in one piece are slim, or even finding it for that matter, but I'll take another shot at it. Hey, I figure I got almost half of it, that oughta count for something.[/size]
[attachment 91839 4.jpg]
[size=large]Isn't this a neat field? It even has detecting lines to keep you on track. [/size]
[attachment 91840 5.jpg]
[size=large]I placed the hooks on top of a picture of a belt plate so you can see where it went. Lead would have been poured over it, and it would have looked like the plate below it.[/size]
[attachment 91841 6.jpg]
[size=large]Digs for today: 7 bullets, 6 flat buttons, Spencer base, friction primer, belt plate hooks, part of the lead that went in the belt plate, and a couple other whatnots. Oops, left a flat button on the counter.[/size]