Posted 12 years ago
rocketman
(13 items)
Musket Ball shot from the Edo period 1600-1868 ; found in Samurai Castle ruins & it was just *Luck that it was seen as I was digging a small bottle from landslide after Typhoon & Heavy Rain.
Musket Ball is 10mm across & I am wondering what Caliber it might ?.
Anyone with Knowledge ? please share and comment as I am very curious re the Caliber?.
Thanks
10mm would be about 40 caliber.
Hi thanks for that ! ; is it possible to know if its pistol or musket shot ? .
Sounds dumb I know as I have seen many large bore Tanigashima the samurai Flintlocks and muskets ut only a few samurai pistols & there bore size is mystery to me also.
.40 caliber is very often a pistol caliber, but it is possible it could be from a musket. To compare, British smooth bore military muskets often fired a .75 caliber ball.
There is another possible answer, although I do not know if this was done in Japan. Muskets could be loaded with three smaller balls, and one large ball of correct caliber, This was called "Buck and Ball." Sooth bore muskets were not very accurate, and by firing this Buck and Ball loading, there was greater chance of hitting the target with at least one ball.
Do people actually collect such items & is this of any value?
I do not know if there is a collector interest internationally. In the United States, there are people who do collect musket balls near civil war battlefields, but they mostly sell for only a few dollars each.