Three hour session this morning.

Wednesday 25 June 2014.
At last I was able to get out for a three hour session this morning. Kept local as I never had much time and went to my usual haunt where nothing really decent turns up but at least I still find stuff there, even tho its mainly crap to most but that's metal detecting for you. To be in with a chance you have to have good sites with some history to it, as I haven't at the mo I have to make do and as long as I find stuff I'm happy.
So nothing really exciting as you see in the pic of my finds this morning. There's 6x2p coins, 4x1p, 7x the old decimal half pence, which 5 of them came out of the same hole. There's an old pre-decimal halfpenny badly worn, I think its a Victorian, a doggy tag in the shape of a paw, lots of cartridges and 2 bullets. I've dug lots of the bullets on the left but the one on the right is a first with that shape.


 The pic below shows a few cartridges I came across. All these came from a small area and the place was littered in them. I had to move away in the end as there was signals all over the place. Not come across this type of cartridge before but they look modern, so if anyone can throw any light on them I would appreciate it. Still, they all help to make weight to my scrap bucket.


***UPDATE***
Just had an ID on the above cartridges from a fellow detectorists on the MDF Metal Detecting Forum. They are 30-06 Marsh Coulter Flares. This is the info I received:

Marshall Coulter, of Tecumseh, Michigan, patented this flare shell in ca. 1960 and they were sold at the retail level for many years. They were still being advertised in the 1970's.

The projectile consists of a brass tube which is closed at one end. A piece of cannon fuse is lit upon firing and ignites the flare material which burns until it reaches a small charge of black powder. The black powder is designed to either rupture the brass tube or expel a secondary igniter and flare charge which burns brightly. The brass tube is sealed with a piece of cork and has a red sealant overtop of this. The flare has a maximum altitude of about 500 feet.

This round did not have a headstamp.

This flare was loaded for a variety of rounds in both .30 and .35 calibers.

References: .30-06 by Chris Punnett. Page 271.

Plus a couple of links to show pictures:

11 comments:

  1. Interesting bullet that Janner, I've seen similar types from the late 19th Century,Most of those are not as pointed as that one although they do have that ridge in place.
    Looks like you have a bit of research to do. :)

    Jordan

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  2. Whats the base like? Is there a shaped hole in the bottom or is it flat??
    It looks a bit like a Colt Revolving Rifle bullet, although this I'm sorry to say is a massive guess. If so, the cartridge would have been paper and would have needed a percussion cap.

    Jordan.

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  3. Hi Jordan, Yes I thought it was interesting too, first one I have found like this. The base of it is flat. The only 'ringed' bullets i could find were from the civil war, but they were rounder noses. No way this one is that old I'm sure.
    Well, I have got info on the cartridges, just that bullet to go now.

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  4. Interseting stuff mate, keep us informed :)

    Jordan

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  5. Interesting even :D

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  6. I would like to contact you by email Janner, is this possible?? I've looked everywhere on your blog but cant find anything.

    Jordan.

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  7. At first I did have a 'contact me privately' box on this blog, but soon got rid of it as it was a magnet for spammers, unsavoury characters, etc, it was more trouble than it was worth. The only contact I have through the internet is via the private messaging system on the MDF Metal Detecting Site where no email addresses are exchange. Its a bit inconvenient but after past experiences I found it the best way.

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  8. No problem Janner, I understand that. I'll get myslef signed up on MDF and contact you via them. :)

    Jordan.

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  9. Hello Janner, have shown a couple of detecting mates in the USA your bullet photo, they are all of the opinion that its come from a pistol, He did say "probably a Colt, although its slightly more "pointy" than normal.

    "pointy" was my word not he's.

    Jordan

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  10. Forgot to add, If you look at the diagonal grooves around it, this shows how little spin was put on the bullet when it left the barrel, this also suggests an early type of pistol.....apparently!

    Jordan

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  11. Thanks for that info Jordan, interesting, gives me something to work on.

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