hi guys,
a friend of mine sent me the pic of this ball found on the Solferino 1859 (northern Italy) battlefield, any idea? I do not have the calibre unfortunately.
tesoro

If you’re local Library can get them on an interlibrary loan you should look at two good books on the subject of Civil War bullets. The U. S. Civil War (“The Recent Unpleasantness”) was fought with many European firearms including a number of Italian manufacture.
Two books to look for:
McKee & Mason “Civil War Projectiles Vol. II Small Arms & Field artillery”
Thomas & Thomas “Handbook of Civil War Bullets & Cartridges”

Could this bullet be a zinc cleaner bullet which has lost its washer? It certainly has the look.

There were many varieties of composite or two-piece bullets in wide use. A great number of these bullets were re-worked by the South from bullet stocks in arsenals captured at the start of the war. I am attaching a drawing from Herschel Logan’s book: “Cartridges.”
Were two-piece bullets in common use at this time in Italy?

Some U. S. .58 caliber three band “Minnie” bullets have a cavity base very similar to this bullet. These bullets are swaged as this bullet appears to be.

Great answer to this question Slim.....ya keep suprising me!

Good morning Chris, thanks. Before I get the “Big Head” I’ll wager some one who knows something about these bullets comes along and says: “Close one eye, step back three feet and stand on one leg, as you can plainly see this is not a bullet but a franistan valve for a1913 Hupmobile…”
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
The cleaner I attached to the first thread has a zinc washer and the drawing has a tin plated iron washer. There are a bewildering variety of bullets and cartridges from this time and they traveled the world in quantity.
<o:p></o:p>
Chris, not wanting to hijack this thread but there is a .30-30 shot load thread somewhere and I wanted to post my experiences and a letter from the January 1974 issues of the American Rifleman on it. Funny I can remember the issue of the Rifleman well but not where the thread is, got any ideas?

Good morning Chris, thanks. Before I get the “Big Head” I’ll wager some one who knows something about these bullets comes along and says: “Close one eye, step back three feet and stand on one leg, as you can plainly see this is not a bullet but a franistan valve for a1913 Hupmobile…”


LOL.......So true, so true! That's me, always a hair's length away, yet so far. Thanks for the morning chuckle. I must have missed the shot load thread, or it is so buried in the brain pan that it's impossible to retrieve. I'll go huntin'!