A Roundball Mystery

[Herb]

I was stationed at the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge at Quincy, Illinois in 1959 and in October, I went down to Grafton, Illinois to work on the Batchtown and Calhoun NWRs. This is above Alton, where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1803-4 at Wood River before starting up the Missouri River. On the Batchtown Refuge, I found along the bank of the Mississippi River a lead roundball. I thought, "Lewis or Clark could have fired this ball!" It weighs 137.5 grains, compared to the 128 grain .440 ball shown below, so by comparison it could be a .47 caliber ball. Notice the sharp, circular imprint, .410 in diameter, and the deep crescent cut. This is the back side of the ball.

This is the front side that struck something.

There are seven lands and seven grooves, and they measure .100 each. So 14 times .100 gives us 1.4" circumference for the bore. Circumference equals pi times diameter. So 1.4 = 3.14 x D. Divide both sides by 3.14 and we get a diameter of .4458. But is the circumference for the land diameter or the groove diameter? What caliber is this?

Lewis and Clark had .54 caliber military rifles, but I think I read that Lewis had a "small rifle". Does anyone know if this is true and was it about a .45 caliber? How to explain those sharp imprints on the backside of the ball? A .445 ball weighs 133 grains.

 

[necchi]

If I remember proper the guess about Lewis` small rifle was a 36.
It could be just the shards of a Brennke or Foster shot gun slug from not so long ago, :idunno:

 

[Trench]

I concur, the Small rifle was a .36 caliber rifle.

 

[D Sanders]

Not to bust your bubble, but could this be a stray shot from someones last years hunting trip, target practice etc.? It looks like a belted ball. Did Lewis and Clark have this kind of amo? It would be cool if it did in fact belong to our great American Explorers. I would think that by this time the years would have worn the rifling marks off of it. It may not be recognizable as a rifle ball by now. :hmm:

HH 60

 

[RC]

:hmm: thought.......lewis an clark's Air rifle was a 46 caliber.... :hmm:

hafta look.....its on here someplace, I can remember but 46 sounds right.........

 

[illuveatar]

The Girandoni air rifle that they carried was a .46cal.

This youtube video is worth a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pqFyKh-rUI

From the video it appears that the balls weren't patched, which could explain why the lands and grooves are etched into the ball so well.

Your math looks correct, though it would be difficult to say that each land and groove is exactly .100". If it's accurate though, I believe the circumference value you got would be for the diameter between the depth of the groove and the top of the land.

 

[illuveatar]

I just did a few more calculations that might get closer to the truth.

The density of lead is 11.34g/cm^3, given a weight of 137.5 grains or 8.91g we get a volume of .79cm^3. Using the volume of a sphere formula:

V = 4/3*pi*r^3

I arrive at a radius of .225 inches or .45cal

I did the same calculation as before but used the value for the density of lead that you supplied i.e. 133grains/.445caliber. This required some algebra that I'm not going to repeat, the result was .451cal.

These calculations assume the ball is made of pure lead.

If we use lead density and the volume formula and assume the ball is .455cal then the weight would be 140.5 grains. If it was exactly .460cal, the weight would be around 146.3 grains.

I was hoping the numbers would come out differently but it looks like the ball isn't from the air rifle.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Anybody consider a cap-n-ball revolver, with the "belting' being the deformation when it was loaded into the chamber, and the crecent mark was becaus when it was first attempted to be loaded, it wasn't properly placed over the chamber, and when the loading arm was used, either the ball was compressed slightly on the thin, outer edge of the cylinder, OR the edge of the plunger formed the groove onto the ball, and then the person loading stopper, properly centered and rammed the ball into the chamber?

LD

 

[hoochiepapa]

That indentation on the front of the ball resembles the upsetting on the front of some balls I have that struck ribs. :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Your thinking is logical. Very real possibility.
However, it could be anything from L&C to, as suggested, last years hunt.

 

[ohio ramrod]

A few years back one of the sons of the woman I am caretaker for was looking for flint points in the newly plowed field and found a mini ball. He showed it to me and asked me if there was any way he could tell how old it was. I examined it and told him it was " A 45 caliber two band mini. About eight months old." I had sighted in a deer rifle there when there was about a foot of snow on the ground. :idunno: :idunno: I agree that the ball in question is most likely is from a revolver. :idunno:

 

[Herb]

I found this ball in October, 1959 on a National Wildlife Refuge, not open to hunting "last year". Balls and bullets from Civil War battlefields still show sharp rifling, so lead does not simply degrade away. That sharp, circular impression measures .410, a little lopsided, but that is the main circle. The deep crescent seems to match it, but it is blunt. I like the idea of a lever seating the ball in a cap and ball revolver, but the marks are on the back side. I like the idea of a fur trapper going up the river, firing at a raccoon or deer on the river's bank. Chances of seeing a beaver, mink, otter or muskrat on the bank are slim, based on my years of working on the Mississippi, Mouse (Souris), Green and other rivers. Thanks to all for your ideas! I have two friends visiting today, very mathematically keen. Maybe we can put that ball under a microscope (Greg has one) and figure the rate of pitch in the rifling. Only have about .12" length to measure. And I'll seat a ball in my .45 GRRW Leman (60 inch twist) and pull it and visually compare the twist. This ball shape is curious, almost as if belted, as suggested. Thanks for the rib comment, Mike.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I like the idea of a lever seating the ball in a cap and ball revolver, but the marks are on the back side.

So the loading person botches the first try, and when they move the lever forward to reposition the ball for a second try, they drop the ball, so they pick it up, insert it deformed side down as luck would have it, and then continue loading with success?? :grin:

LD

 

[rabjr]

I like the idea of a lever seating the ball in a cap and ball revolver, but the marks are on the back side.

So the loading person botches the first try, and when they move the lever forward to reposition the ball for a second try, they drop the ball, so they pick it up, insert it deformed side down as luck would have it, and then continue loading with success?? :grin:

LD

Obviously, thats what happened here. Probably some Bigfoot hunter loading his cap/ball pistol just before heading down the trail...and later that same day having a close encounter and getting a shot off... :idunno:

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Good thing you picked it up and took it out of the forest! Some poor duck or goose could have ate it and died. :thumbsup:

 

[nilo52]

Sherlock Holmes got nuthin on you ! :rotf:
nilo52