pewter roundballs?

[pepperbelly]

I was watching The Revolutionary War on the Military Channel. They mentioned that as the Redcoats were marching on Lexington that the people in the homes they passed were melting pewter into musket balls.
With all the discussion about using wheel weights for lead balls it got me thinking. How hard is a pewter ball? I realize they used what they had on hand, but I don't remember hearing about pewter before.

Jim

 

[50cal.cliff]

Early pewter was a good percentage lead. Today's pewter contains little or no lead. You'll have to draw your own conclusions but, I'd guess back at that time it was alot softer because of the heavy lead content in the pewter!

 

[rabjr]

Have to remember, men needed killing. It didn't matter to them how hard the ball was, a pewter ball was better than no ball.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I don't think I'd use pewter for rifle balls, too hard to take the rifling, but I see no reason they wouldn't be fine for smoothbore muskets, maybe even better than lead, they would be hard enough to remain round when fired whereas lead balls tend to flatten on the back side from the thrust of the powder gasses.

 

[trent/OH]

I bought a pewter mug at a garage sale last summer for the express purpose of melting into musket balls, then I realized I like the mug way to much to melt it down. Guess I'll have to find another one.
I learned that there are lots of alloys which can be considered pewter, but even with some lead mixed in, it would be a LOT lighter than pure lead balls, or even wheelweights. And I believe it's melting point will be much higher than pure lead.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Pewter melts at a much lower temperature than lead, (between 200 and 300 degrees F), I have the figures here somewhere. It is a good bit harder, even with lead in the alloy.

Another drawback is the expense. If you buy the new pewter (without lead) the cost is pretty high. Again I have the figures somewhere here. You might ask some of the guys who buy it for knife making or buttons about it. If you buy old mugs or serving trays at the flea market or antique shops, you can sometimes get a pretty good deal. Sometimes the price ain't worth it. I've bought a few old items to melt down for knife pommels &c and was able to do alright. Be careful that a so called pewter mug ain't cast aluminum. Some of them look just like old pewter. Look for "Norway" stamped on the bottom of a piece. This is very good pewter and also proof that you have a real piece of pewter.
:thumbsup:

 

[Thunderchild]

Pewter mini balls were used in the civil war. The exploding bullets used during that time were made of pewter. The Pewter fragmented more than lead and that is why the pewter was used. These mini balls were easy to spot. They had a tube in the hollow part of the skirt. this tube was the time delay fuse. The bullet did not have to strike a person to kill. It would blow up in flight and the fragments would do there deadly work.

TC

 

[mudd turtle]

Thunder Child: I have been a collector of civil war bullets and have never heard of puter exsplodsive ball. I have seen and heard of exsplosive bullets made of lead. I got down my bullet books and tried to find ball made of puter with no luck. Not to say it wasn,t used but this is new to me. I have a couple of exsploding bullets in my collection and they are made of lead. If you can direct me to where I might be able to see one of these puter bullets I would happy to see one. mudd turtle.

 

[Thunderchild]

Mud Turtle

Weeks ago I was doing some research on how civil war cartridges were made when I came across a article on the pewter exploding bullet. I read the article because it was interesting and moved back to my search on paper cartridges. If you collect civil war bullets you know how many kinds and variation of bullets were made during the civil war. I was in no way saying that all civil war exploding bullets were made of pewter. I do not recall the web address where I saw the article. I do remember there being several good pictures and detailed text. It might have been a collage website. I looked at so many web sites it is hard to be sure. If I happen upon the website again I will let you know the address. By the way I said "mini ball" not "ball".

TC

 

[Tumblernotch]

Mudd Turtle, so far I have to agree with you. The only explosive bullet I can find with a metal other than lead in it is a variation of a Gardiner bullet. The lead was cast around a small copper bottle shaped insert which held a small powder charge. However, I guess it's possible to have used pewter though I don't know why. It being hard, it wouldn't upset sufficiently to engage the rifling and would therefore be more likely to tumble in flight and be very inaccurate.

 

[wildeagle]

I had posted pics of this minnie ball some months back, I have two in pristine condition. Sadly I removed them from my photo bucket account and I can't post them as of now. The explosive bullet was made of a mixture of lead and zinc, with a small amount of tin included, which made them quite frangible. They are easily distinguished by their smooth black finish and small teat in the base. This allowed the flash from the charge to start the fuse burning. You are correct in that the intent was to explode in air not contact, creating shrapnel. Even though harder than a pure lead projectile, the skirts did flare and engage the rifling creating a fairly accurate round, not that it would be needed as they were designed to explode in air. As to your post about pewter, I believe the contents of this bullet are the same as pewter but in different amounts of zinc, tin, and lead. Respectfully, Wild Eagle, I tend to ramble sometimes.