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Description: | Seven sub-spherical lead-alloy shot ('musket balls') of varying sizes. Part of a group of lead shot and bullets, numbering 80 in total from the same site.Dimensions:a) Weight: 28.51g Diameter: 16.7mmb) Weight: 21.62g Diameter: 15.6mmc) Weight: 14.30g Diameter: 13.4mmd) Weight: 6.85g Diameter: 10.5mme) Weight: 33.45g Diameter: 18.2mmf) Weight: 11.64g Diameter: 12.8mmg) Weight: 4.34g Diameter: 9.0mmDetermining the original weight/size/bore of old musket balls, especially those effected by damage or in-ground corrosion processes is difficult. In the 17th century ball size was expressed as 12 bore, meaning 12 balls to the pound (of lead). It is rarely possibly to assign individual projectiles to specific calibres or gun types and in this earlier period c.1600-1750 there was a huge variety of firearms, imperfectly manufactured balls and due to the fact that lead and lead-alloys vary in weight.From the mid-18th century, however, British forces used just 3 main uniform sizes: Musket, c.31g ball; carbine, c.23g ball and pistol, c.13g ball. A study on shot recovered from a Civil War era small arms firing range at Easton Maudit in Northamptonshire by D F Harding (see below for reference), however, has demonstrated that the weight variations for these shot types varied significantly in this earlier period: c.1-7g Buckshot; c.7-16g Pistol; c.16-23g Carbine; c.24-29g Arquebus and Caliver and c.30-48g Musket.Smaller lead shot with a date range of 1-7g are typically identified as buckshot (for game hunting or poaching).A site with shot of a wide variety of weights and sizes can be taken as an indication of possible Civil War era activity.In the case of this group of shot the above finds must be considered alongside the other types of lead shot also recovered from this site and recorded in separate entries on the PAS database.(Information on shot taken from PAS 'Musket Ball Identification Sheet' based on "Lead Shot of the English Civil War: A Radical Study" by D F Harding, 2012.)
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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Two complete lead-alloy musket balls…
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