Williams Type I Cleaner with pin carved off.

[tom buckley]

I know that this calls for speculation, but I don't get out much anymore and am sitting here thinking up dumb questions.
Over the years I have seen several Williams Type I Cleaners with the pin carved off and I have one in my collection. The ones that I have seen all seem to have had the pin neatly carved off with no other carving on the bullet. I believe that if this was done out of boredom by a soldier there would have been more carving on the bullet. Can anybody think of a reason that a soldier would carve off the pin?

[Roger Hansen]

Boredom.  I have dug many carved bullets and several Cleaners with cut off pins.  As a soldier from a war zone, small things relieve boredom in the field.  Racing scorpions was a favorite. If I had minie balls I would have carved them.
Roger Hansen

[CarlS]

I'm not real sure that I know what you are referring to.  If you had a picture is would help me at least.  We have found a lot of the Williams Cleaners around here (Marietta, GA) over the years and it is not unusual to find one with the flat base broken off the shaft if that is what you mean.  I always attributed it to just breaking off from being a weak connection.

[divedigger]

It may be that some troops removed the base so as not to be accused of firing poisonous bullets. Some Confederates complained that shooting the zinc ring into a man constituted dirty pool as it was thought to be poison