Well, John, I admire you for sticking to your 'guns'. But emike raises some valid points. The letter doesn't mention bolts, so it COULD be a Southern made copy OR a round captured with the guns, OR a couple of other possibilities. Now, how it got where it was found is a mystery, I think all we've solved is that it was fired from a gun cast at West Point Foundry and that it was fabricated on Dyer principles. Am I correct so far, folks? Unless I've missed something in this thread, no other identified tubes match this caliber and rifling. To be honest, my D&G is still packed in a box with my other office supplies, so I don't know what this bolt has been called by others.