M14 Forum

andyh1956

i was just told by someone smarter than me (i know he is, he TOLD me so!) that confederate minie balls only had two grooves, as opposed to union balls with three. i have never found a ball with only two grooves. does anyone have a two groove minie ball they would care to share a pik of? thanks
andy

conditionone

I have seen both but never heard one type belonged to US or CSA

http://www.civilwarsignals.org/pages...s/weapons.html

go near bottom of page and there's a 2-groove ball

huntinghawk

Nope. Difference between the two was the caliber.

HH

andyh1956

i spose caliber i am refering to would be .58, correct?
andy

huntinghawk

1861 Springfield used a .58 caliber ball & 1853 Enfield used a .577 caliber ball.

HH

Seventh Fleet

I have an 1862 Confederate Enfield hanging over the fireplace in my log cabin. This particular rifle is a Birmingham-made P53 Enfield pattern marked "Tower" on the lock and dated "1862" and mine still has the linen sling.

My pride and joy though is a large 42"X32" painting (print) of Custer's Last Stand put out by Anheuser Bush Brewing Association St Louis Mo that hangs at the foot of the stairs leading to the bedrooms.

This picture is in only in fair condition and its in a gold leaf frame from the period. I have spent much of my life searching for old items of historic interest to decorate my log cabin with. This has at times caused issues with my bride who isn't into history quite as much and me. But Col Custer and the Enfield were here long before her and she's been here for 29 years come March 11th.

7th

willriskit

Those manufactured by the South had two grooves and those from the North had three. We used to find both in NC but who fired the bullet was most likely due to direction because the Confederates used a lot of enemy ordnance. Calibre was indeed .58 but both sides used both rifled and smoothbore .69's. Many of the .58's that were dropped in the sand unfired at the battle of Ft. Fisher were sold at 3/ $.25 when I was stationed in that area in the 60's.

andyh1956

thanks for all the replies. this has been the 1st i had heard of two groove minie balls, even though no one i know seems to have one. i lived in the arlington / vienna va for six years & minie balls & lots of other militaria was not hard to find. however, in the early sixties these things tradded cheap. when i moved to mississippi in '69 i left two five gallon buckets of minie balls in our apt. the movers refused to pick them up & load them! seventh fleet good luck with 11 march. on 21 feb i will have had mine for 36 yrs!
andy

mercman

I have in my hand what is I believe to be a two groove minie ball. It was given to my by an old girl friend who was walking a trail at the Antietem battle sight with her brother when he found it laying on the ground near the path. I'll take a picture of it and post it tomorrow.

IC2(SS)19Z50C5

exactly!!!!

willriskit

Early in the war, both sides used .69 Cal. smoothbores loaded with buck and ball and as the new rifled .58's bacame available, the North phased-out the larger calibres. The South relied heavily on captured weapons and ammunition of all types and arms production in general, was severely limited due to a lack of manufacturing facilities and the scarcity of lead. When they got through, blockade runners brought in excellent arms and equipage of all types from Europe but this virtually ceased after the fall of Wilmington. .577 Enfields from England were purchased by both sides in large numbers and these are still relatively common at larger shows. A favorite arm captured by the South was the Spencer and it saw wide use as long as ammo was available, but manufacturing the .56 rimfire it used was never achieved by the South in sufficient quantity. The most common home-grown Southern cavalry weapon I've come across was short-barreled shotguns converted from captured infantry muskets. I blackpowder deer hunted with my 1855 .58 Cal. rifled Springfield for years using a dry 500 grain minnie ball with two 30 gr. Clean Shot pellets. Mine was made in 1859, when John Floyd (a Virginia) was Secretary of War. Total production for that year at Springfield was 10,000 and that is the number shipped south by Floyd in 1860. He was accused of arming the South, tried and acquitted, but as a Confederate general in 1861, admitted to doing so.

twobravo

Try this site..........

http://www.virginiarelics.com/civil_war_bullets.htm

http://www.tennesseelead.com/index.html

pendennis

I toured the Gettysburg battlefield in 1970, when you could still really wander around. I was in a wooded area near where Pickett's division formed. I found an unfired Minie ball there. It has three grooves, and was oxidized. This is offered only as anecdotral. I don't know if it was dropped there by either side, but it was where the muster point was.

willriskit

Thanks, twobravo. I've never had a Confederate Gardner. Union cleaning bullets are a lot more common.

andyh1956

thanks everybody. yall woulda loved the bazars in afghanistan. all types of weapons for sale but lots of enfields & martinis. it got to be kinda a hobby to determine how many (if any) REAL enfield parts were on these rifles. we saw lots of french rifles, old 11mm mausers and some newer. the army had a rule, nothing smaller than 9mm bore & nothing newer than 1898 could be sent home. my boss bought a 44.40 1894 win & sent it home. stupid customs thought the 1894 was year of manufacture! s/n said 1930 something i think. he also bought a percussion breach loading saddle ring carbine, name of which escapes me now. i wanted a three band enfield but never found one clean enough to suit me. one thing i do wish i had bought was a camel gun. they had loads of them cheap. i had some cleaning rounds i found but the zinc was gone. when i lived in va they had already started taking in the battlefields. in manassas the built a dragstrip, a dirt track & then started townhouses. hey 7th fleet, is your enfield a three band or a two band? thanks
andy