British .55 inch Whitworth bullet;

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To All,
     Dare I venture from the Artillery section of this Forum to the Bullet gang?
A fellow in Ireland sent me the below photos for I.D.
   It measures .55 from side flat to side flat and 1.793 inches from to to bottom flat.
Can any of the bullet experts shed further light on this little fellow?
Best Regards,
John aka Bart

[acwbullets]

Interesting piece John!

If I had to guess I would say it was for a different type of gun. It appears to be iron or perhaps steel which would quickly wear away any rifling that a musket barrel would have. Because the projectile is larger it may have been for a gun with a tempered barrel. That is my best guess anyway

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

ACWBullets,
     I agree, if iron they would be tough on the Whitworth rifling.  You usethe term 'musket', isn't that considered a smoothbore? when this little fellow is clearly for a rifle. Perhaps it was an advance away from the fouling lead bullet. All comments are invited. Thank you.
Best Regards,
John

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To All,
   unfortunately there was a misunderstanding in measurements of this projectile.
The owner thought I meant the diameter of the flat which is .55 inches in diameter.
From side flat to side flat is 1.7 inches in diameter.  Which if I am not mistaken is meant for the 1.7 inch (3pdr) Whitworth rifled cannon.  Sorry guys I thought we had a rare bullet.
Regards,
John

[emike123]

We see these from the test range over there.  I think David has a couple imilar ones (perhaps larger) he got from Horse Soldier, but however cool, they were never used here.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Hi Mike,
   Yes I know they were not used in U.s.  I my Irish contact bought three of these 1.7 inch rifled balls along with a regular 1.7 inch 'baby' Whitworth shell, minus its fuze.  That is really what made me think that they were experimental and made for the 3 pdr Whitworth rifled cannon.
Thanks, and I didn't mean to interrupt the bullet brains.
Regards,
John aka Bart