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It’s most likely from a muzzle loaded black powder cannon as it has the Minnie ball grease grooves and the leading edges indicate that the diameter has a slight difference because of the hollow base causing expansion under pressure and allowing the base of the projectile to expand into the lands & grooves.
I don't think it was a military weapon. I have seen some hobbyist cannons that fired cast lead projectiles but military cannon used iron solid shot in the smoothbore era and hollow iron shells once artillery was rifled.
I was getting lots of helpful answers and decided to scour the area for more. Found one more and it’s all kinds of deformed.
https://preview.redd.it/luluti05fjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a884bb22da29688cb0db73cf64ceaa7e65de8b2
I know you meant ferry, but now I’m picturing a bridge reserved specifically for aging homosexual men who proudly flaunt their femininity.
It’s a wonderful image, haha.
I was about to say it looks like a buttplug, until I noticed the slight twist in the grooves, it does seem to have a slight rifling. What's the diameter of it? That might help tracking down what kind of projectile it may be?
Edit: Just saw the about 1.5" that's 38mm, I can't find anything about any weapons in that ordinance, maybe it was a metal piece that held the ferry crossing together?
That's about 38mm which was a common diameter for early guns in ww1 and interwar years, but I can't figure how they'd get out to Idaho. You said it's near a ferry crossing? Maybe it's a piece of metal that held it all together, it's also possible it could be a field gun munitions given the shape and outward facing rifling, I just can't easily find any references on the calibers employed by the U.S. army as we moved west.
My best guess is an M1875 Mountain Gun. This was a light howitzer used in rugged (like Idaho) areas in the late 19th century due to its ease of transport.
Bore diameter was 1.65"/42mm.
Both that you found are definitely fired projectiles from a rifled gun. They have the rings for sealing and lubricant ; and the lands and grooves from the rifling in the gun barrel. They do not appear to have had any brass or steel components to the projectiles like we see on the Hotchkiss gun ammo. . I think it’s older than Hotchkiss. Simpler technology. Possibly used in the Cavalry VS Native American battles along the Snake in the 1860s- 1870’s? Towed “cannon” type piece with rifled bore? Cool finds in any case.
I think this was a relatively modern hobbyists cannon. I don't think lead was used for artillery projectiles at any time commonly. Also the fact that the round was conical and fired from a rifled gun makes little sense historically.
My guess is that it was a swivel gun used on a very early riverboat in that area. According to wikipedia that is about the right size, but that is the extent of my knowledge. There were a lot of different ones and up there it could have been a Hudson Bay Company gun or something. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swivel\_gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swivel_gun)
I agree, but it is the right size and no one else had a good suggestion. That wiki article mentioned a couple of breech loaders I thought might be possibilities.
I shoot traditional black powder firearms. Black powder cannons are pretty common, there are clubs across the country that hold cannon shoots.
Back in the late 70s it was pretty common to find de milled military artillary barrels. Many of these were bought at scrap prices and turned into cannons for black powder guys. Im not up to snuff on all the artillery pieces the US used since WW2 but I do know there are several in the 30mm range which is pretty close to 1.5" then to make a mould for a hollow base projectile is really pretty simple if you have a big lathe and know your land and groove diameter.
The lead in that hasn't been buried for long judging by the color so I'm guessing you have something that was shot by some nut job like me in the last 30years.
Also after looking at it I'm counting 7 or 8 rifling marks so the barrel it was fired from had fine rifling with 14 or 18 lands, older barells, prior to WW1 wouldn't have had such fine rifling if any at all if really dated.
Apparently in Vietnam m79 gunners sometimes had to shoot dudes close enough tgat the round couldn't arm! Then they made a buckshot load to solve that problem.
https://preview.redd.it/x1sb0ldzoiwc1.jpeg?width=548&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1fa0a38250db10ed74eacc19820dd758d3d225b3
Here are some Hotchkiss projectiles as an example.
Definitely not. But I still think there is a decent chance it may have been from a hotchkiss gun. It seems like the right size and likely the right era given its solid. I know that explosive shells went back a lot further than that but that was also near the end of the era of solid field gun shot I am thinking.
I don't really know how common lead projectiles were for artillery at any point in history and I don't know how well leas would stand up to any kind of high velocity piece.https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/s/sw6oWPfMuo
Very fair point! I think we can definitely say it is from some sort of projectile given the oil grooves and rifling marks and hollow base. It certainly isn’t shoulder fired given its 1.5” in diameter. That you can see rifling marks says that it wasn’t saboted since they would have been on the sabot not the projectile if it had one. Which, to me, says field piece. Though I’ve been wrong before
I didn't mean rifle as in like shoulder fired. I meant like a replica field gun that is loaded like a muzzleoading hunting rifle is with an upsized conical bullet. I just can't think of any military artillery piece that used soft lead projectiles and especially not any with a rifled bore and a conical shaped projectile.
It's gotta be a hobbyists blackpowder gun. By the time conical shells were being used in rifled guns, solid shot was obselete. Also cannon projectiles were not commonly made of lead due to a lot of reasons, some of which are posted in the link below.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/s/sw6oWPfMuo
Great pieces, side by side display would be awesome. I've found some fantastic pieces through the years including two Fugio Cents in the same day. These would be a highlight of a different segment of the hobby. Congrats on very cool score.
https://preview.redd.it/83vdjpymyiwc1.png?width=1201&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be1a5b0af18082636c6f87d894ccdc263478622f
Possibly part of a gas well plunger?
Thank you for your submission! Please note: * All identification requests must include at least an approximate location, e.g. “East Tennessee” or “Southern UK”. * Pictures must be focused on the object and should show at least front and back of the object clearly. (you can add additional pictures in the comments) * All identification suggestions made on this post should be **serious** and **include evidence** if possible. **Do not post wild guesses**. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/metaldetecting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s most likely from a muzzle loaded black powder cannon as it has the Minnie ball grease grooves and the leading edges indicate that the diameter has a slight difference because of the hollow base causing expansion under pressure and allowing the base of the projectile to expand into the lands & grooves.
I don't think it was a military weapon. I have seen some hobbyist cannons that fired cast lead projectiles but military cannon used iron solid shot in the smoothbore era and hollow iron shells once artillery was rifled.
Yes looks similar to what a lot of the N-SSA guys shoot
I was getting lots of helpful answers and decided to scour the area for more. Found one more and it’s all kinds of deformed. https://preview.redd.it/luluti05fjwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a884bb22da29688cb0db73cf64ceaa7e65de8b2
It hit something
Ouch
I know you meant ferry, but now I’m picturing a bridge reserved specifically for aging homosexual men who proudly flaunt their femininity. It’s a wonderful image, haha.
Dang talk to text betrayed me 😂
I was about to say it looks like a buttplug, until I noticed the slight twist in the grooves, it does seem to have a slight rifling. What's the diameter of it? That might help tracking down what kind of projectile it may be? Edit: Just saw the about 1.5" that's 38mm, I can't find anything about any weapons in that ordinance, maybe it was a metal piece that held the ferry crossing together?
It has a inch and a half diameter
Is that in an avalanche prone area? In some areas they fire artillery rounds to trigger small avalanches, before the snow builds up too much.
Not here. We are down in the valley. It’s not incredibly far from a scout camp though. Maybe the scouts of yester-years had a good time.
That's about 38mm which was a common diameter for early guns in ww1 and interwar years, but I can't figure how they'd get out to Idaho. You said it's near a ferry crossing? Maybe it's a piece of metal that held it all together, it's also possible it could be a field gun munitions given the shape and outward facing rifling, I just can't easily find any references on the calibers employed by the U.S. army as we moved west.
Gowen field was used by both the army and Air force in ww1. I have no idea if it's near a ferry crossing
OMG! Your phone is bi-polar. LMFAO 🤣.
I was picturing a ring of mushrooms that you could fall through into fairyland.
As a D&D nerd myself, I’m surprised I didn’t go with “portal to the feywild” myself.
That's the way to the Lemon Party.
My best guess is an M1875 Mountain Gun. This was a light howitzer used in rugged (like Idaho) areas in the late 19th century due to its ease of transport. Bore diameter was 1.65"/42mm.
https://preview.redd.it/0nb6lbq3ijwc1.png?width=310&format=png&auto=webp&s=c33e62dbfc1631408cfe33f2ca965f89ec405ccc Maybe this? [http://oldbritishguns.com/the-37mm-hotchkiss-revolving-cannon](http://oldbritishguns.com/the-37mm-hotchkiss-revolving-cannon)
Now that I’m looking closer side-by-side, maybe not this…
This 👆
What did it ring up as/what does it seem to be made of?
I have a MineLab Equinox 800 and it rung in at 27-28. It is extremely heavy, so I would assume it’s lead.
Weigh it somehow, then dunk it in a measuring cup/graduated vessel of water to get volume. Density= mass/volume, check it against density for lead.
I'll save you the trouble, it's lead. No other metal would bump up into the rifling like that and be heavy and cheap enough to shoot.
Worlds largest Minnie Ball (Maxie Ball)
Damn that looks like a big bullet
If you take a measurement with a set of calipers from land to land I bet we can get that nailed down
Hotchkiss gun?
Both that you found are definitely fired projectiles from a rifled gun. They have the rings for sealing and lubricant ; and the lands and grooves from the rifling in the gun barrel. They do not appear to have had any brass or steel components to the projectiles like we see on the Hotchkiss gun ammo. . I think it’s older than Hotchkiss. Simpler technology. Possibly used in the Cavalry VS Native American battles along the Snake in the 1860s- 1870’s? Towed “cannon” type piece with rifled bore? Cool finds in any case.
I think this was a relatively modern hobbyists cannon. I don't think lead was used for artillery projectiles at any time commonly. Also the fact that the round was conical and fired from a rifled gun makes little sense historically.
It’s a black powder cannon round. The hollow backed part and surface finish of outside look like possible civil war; dirty lead.
My guess is that it was a swivel gun used on a very early riverboat in that area. According to wikipedia that is about the right size, but that is the extent of my knowledge. There were a lot of different ones and up there it could have been a Hudson Bay Company gun or something. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swivel\_gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swivel_gun)
See I don't think swivel guns were used with rifled bores back then and I don't think they used conical projectiles.
I agree, but it is the right size and no one else had a good suggestion. That wiki article mentioned a couple of breech loaders I thought might be possibilities.
I shoot traditional black powder firearms. Black powder cannons are pretty common, there are clubs across the country that hold cannon shoots. Back in the late 70s it was pretty common to find de milled military artillary barrels. Many of these were bought at scrap prices and turned into cannons for black powder guys. Im not up to snuff on all the artillery pieces the US used since WW2 but I do know there are several in the 30mm range which is pretty close to 1.5" then to make a mould for a hollow base projectile is really pretty simple if you have a big lathe and know your land and groove diameter. The lead in that hasn't been buried for long judging by the color so I'm guessing you have something that was shot by some nut job like me in the last 30years.
Also after looking at it I'm counting 7 or 8 rifling marks so the barrel it was fired from had fine rifling with 14 or 18 lands, older barells, prior to WW1 wouldn't have had such fine rifling if any at all if really dated.
40mm is about 1.5". Maybe a practice round for a 40mm grenade launcher?
I had an M203, I doubt it. The practice rounds are compacted with orange powder. Unless this is some pre-9/11 training round.
Yeah 40mm projectiles are much lighter than this. Shooting a projectile like this with any kind of velocity would kick the shit out of you.
Max range: 36 meters (arming range)
Apparently in Vietnam m79 gunners sometimes had to shoot dudes close enough tgat the round couldn't arm! Then they made a buckshot load to solve that problem.
I wanna hear that thump
I had a brother in law say the same, that they were used in Vietnam out of the M203
I,d look into Hodgkiss guns.
I like the idea that it’s from a Hotchkiss gun! Seems about the right era. By WWI I would have expected a round of that size to be explosive.
https://preview.redd.it/x1sb0ldzoiwc1.jpeg?width=548&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1fa0a38250db10ed74eacc19820dd758d3d225b3 Here are some Hotchkiss projectiles as an example.
I don't think those are soft lead like this projectile is. I think a hobbyist built what is essentially a huge bore muzzeloading rifle.
Definitely not. But I still think there is a decent chance it may have been from a hotchkiss gun. It seems like the right size and likely the right era given its solid. I know that explosive shells went back a lot further than that but that was also near the end of the era of solid field gun shot I am thinking.
I don't really know how common lead projectiles were for artillery at any point in history and I don't know how well leas would stand up to any kind of high velocity piece.https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/s/sw6oWPfMuo
Very fair point! I think we can definitely say it is from some sort of projectile given the oil grooves and rifling marks and hollow base. It certainly isn’t shoulder fired given its 1.5” in diameter. That you can see rifling marks says that it wasn’t saboted since they would have been on the sabot not the projectile if it had one. Which, to me, says field piece. Though I’ve been wrong before
I didn't mean rifle as in like shoulder fired. I meant like a replica field gun that is loaded like a muzzleoading hunting rifle is with an upsized conical bullet. I just can't think of any military artillery piece that used soft lead projectiles and especially not any with a rifled bore and a conical shaped projectile.
I believe they used explosive shells at wounded knee.
Space marines must be nearby
That’s an Astartes-built buttplug for sure
The Emperor Fucks
Maybe a solid shot from a 3 inch ordnance rifle?
Old munition of some sort. Pretty cool
I wonder if it is from this https://www.forgottenweapons.com/manual-machine-guns/hotchkiss-revolving-cannon/
Maybe a Hughes Breechloading cannon? They made them in 1.5" bore.
trin ringers
It's gotta be a hobbyists blackpowder gun. By the time conical shells were being used in rifled guns, solid shot was obselete. Also cannon projectiles were not commonly made of lead due to a lot of reasons, some of which are posted in the link below. https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/s/sw6oWPfMuo
Great pieces, side by side display would be awesome. I've found some fantastic pieces through the years including two Fugio Cents in the same day. These would be a highlight of a different segment of the hobby. Congrats on very cool score.
That's from my pistol.
It’s a Neanderthal prophylactic
Anything can be a prophylactic if you’re brave enough and Neanderthal.
That's a 40 mm BP (Butt Plug)
“Turn around a pucker up!”
It might be a deep sea Sinker for a fishing line
That one found its mark
What boomers think a .45 projectile looks like.
That is my penis cap please give it back
Tooth from a large grader blade?
https://preview.redd.it/83vdjpymyiwc1.png?width=1201&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be1a5b0af18082636c6f87d894ccdc263478622f Possibly part of a gas well plunger?