Musket ball (?) question

[osgood]

found this in a farm field. It is lead and almost a half an inch across, weighs a ton, would wreak obvious carnage passing through you. Where certain musket balls that big? Also you cant see it in the pic but there is a flattened ridge running around the ball as if there was a rough seam that was filed down or trimmed off if you will. Was that common practice? Otherwise Im thinking is this a marble or maybe a ball bearing, but why out of lead then? It is in an area documented for the Sullivan campaign having marched through along the river where the field was. Where the musket balls big then? Thanks for any input, CL

 

[duggap]

Without any thing to compare size, I would guess you have found a .69 cal ball. Those were common in military situations. Most private guns were around .54. The line you are seeing is where the ball was cast in a two piece bullet mold. Sometimes you will rind a small flat spot where the spru was cut off. If it is lead it is a bullet from around the civilwar period.

 

[TomB]

With out having anything to compare it to, I'd say it's a .69 cal musket ball. I found over 70 of these, in one location, and they all had a flat spot were the led was trimmed after poring. The whitish patina is also right. Here's a pic of the ones I recovered. TomB

 

[Jim West Pa]

n/t

 

[Thommy]

Is it oval (as it appears) or truly round? If it's oval, it is not a bullet but a weight of some kind, like a sinker.

 

[cajintex]

Over 70 in one are, what a place to hunt.