Found my 4th in my lifetime Whitworth Yesterday

These are the Confederate Sharpshooter bullets ...Fired from the Whitworth rifle....

The sharpshooters mission was to Kill Ranking officers and Artillery man...this one came off an Artillery line....

These are very hard to find as there was not many Sharpshooters using these High dollar English made weapons....

Even fired ones are Very Very expensive to collectors...

Ive found 4 of them in my life ...two fired once carved one and one dropped..

This is a fired one...Sent chills down my spine when I dug it ..I knew the records stated that sharpshooters were picking off Artillerymen on this line....

its .45 caliber hexagonal,,,,1.3 inches long,,,500 gn..






Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith,
Now this is what I like to see, where the find itself is all that is important. The historical, mystical nature of the find is mind boggling. What a find Keith, thanks for sharing.

Randy

Nice dig Keith. What detector where you using???

Awesome find, Keith; you deserve it!
If it had hit soft tissue only, it could still look like that, right?
Makes you wonder. They were "sharpshooters!"

Thanks for sharing.

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

Congrats Keith = nice find.

Good research too ;-)

Awesome!

Bey

Hey Wayne...

It look as of though it may of hit something ..and not a rock....




Also heres a daylight shot showing the hex shape..



Thanks for the replies fellas!!

True piece of History....that really hits home..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Hi Keith,,,Way to go buddy,congratulations it's a good deal cause you are at the wheel....A piece of history comes home & you are not alone....JJ

Nice find, never heard of it before. HH

Quote

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Wayne...
>
> It look as of though it may of hit something ..and
> not a rock....

OUCH!!

NO thanks!!

[milpas.cc]

the Whitworth is about halfway down the page..

I can probably narrow down to within 3 or 4 men Who shot this bullet if I did some extensive research.

I have found 3 Whitworths in this area about 6 miles apart and Ill bet 3-4 guys will be the only one in this area with them..

Im pretty sure its Austins Brigade of Lousiana Sharsphooters..Ive been tracking those guys for years... they were attached to a Texas Cavalry company at times,, and I'm obesessed with Texas Cavalry...LOL!!

Update on 5/25/15

[milpas.cc]

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2015 10:21PM by Keith Southern.

VERY WELL DONE, my friend!!!!!!!! Keith....I am curious....is the bore of the Whitworth rifle hexagonal so as to fit the bullets contours? Just curious. I am hunting in a location where there some some found years ago. It would be AWESOME to find one this afternoon. (using the Extra-large coil on the Racer this afternoon in that area).
Keith, I'm dying to ask you.....so I will......which one of your units did you find it with? Was it deep? Reason I ask is that, since Turkey season is over, I am back in the woods where I found the carved Bishop chess piece ....made from a 58 cal Minie) and I have noticed that I have lost a bit of depth due to dry ground....(the ground was constantly damp back in the early Spring).
Anyway, you made an EXCELLENT find (it is a banner-find to me) and I heartily CONGRATULATE you!!!!!! I just feel that a gold coin is in store for you this year!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Detecting. and deep. And un-masking! kevin

Well thanks My friend Kevin!!!

I found it with the F75 V2 certified by Tom by Route of Bryanna,,...Thanks Both!!!

I was in 2f tone...99 sens...Je mode.. ground was 2 F.e. bars...58 GB..Zero disc..Quite as a mouse under power lines...

Whitworth was about 9 inches deep..

heres an answer to your question ...And I think the barrel was a 1-20 twist..without looking it up..
[en.wikipedia.org]

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Ya know Keith, I have a couple of White muzzleloaders that Dr Gary White modeled after the Whitworth system. Long slip fit bullets and 1 in 20 twist barrels. They were are super accurate because of the b/c of the bullets. Way before the modern muzzleloaders of today these were shooting 2-300 yds very accurately. Great find!

The Gun and its Development by Greener covers the Whitworth system. You can download it free from various places including Google Books

[play.google.com]

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Awesome find Keith! WTG!

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These are the Confederate Sharpshooter bullets
> ...Fired from the Whitworth rifle....
>
> The sharpshooters mission was to Kill Ranking
> officers and Artillery man...this one came off an
> Artillery line....
>
> These are very hard to find as there was not many
> Sharpshooters using these High dollar English made
> weapons....
>
> Even fired ones are Very Very expensive to
> collectors...
>
> Ive found 4 of them in my life ...two fired once
> carved one and one dropped..
>
> This is a fired one...Sent chills down my spine
> when I dug it ..I knew the records stated that
> sharpshooters were picking off Artillerymen on
> this line....
>
> its .45 caliber hexagonal,,,,1.3 inches long,,,500
> gn..
>
> [i957.photobucket.com]
> itworth_zpsn4r4oftx.jpg
>
> [i957.photobucket.com]
> ight_zpsh2phqyeg.jpg
>
>
> Keith

I thought "sharpshooters" used Sharps rifles, isn't that where the word came from.

Hobo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I thought "sharpshooters" used Sharps rifles,
> isn't that where the word came from.

Nope...that's a very common misconception.

[www.brettschulte.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2015 08:25PM by Mike in CO.

Rare & nice find. I've never found one of those but know where they've been found on Lee's retreat route from Gettysburg. I haven't been lucky enough to find one let alone four. I have dug a couple new Austrian bullets & 5 Gardiner explosive bullets. Nice buddy. HH TIM

Could it be a Jack Hinson bullet ????

Tom in SC

Awesome find Keith...and th elittle history lesson :-)

I really think the LTD2 is a bullet magnet. I have found quite a few (nothing fancy...just bullets) along with some musket balls. The LTD2 just seems to lock onto them. I use the JE mode as well but my soil is 3-5 bars, mostly 4 bars +. JE lets me move along at a good clip when I'm doing recon, but still bangs out the good stuff.

Go find some more :-)

Kenny

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well thanks My friend Kevin!!!
>
> I found it with the F75 V2 certified by Tom by
> Route of Bryanna,,...Thanks Both!!!
>
> I was in 2f tone...99 sens...Je mode.. ground was
> 2 F.e. bars...58 GB..Zero disc..Quite as a mouse
> under power lines...
>
> Whitworth was about 9 inches deep..
>
> heres an answer to your question ...And I think
> the barrel was a 1-20 twist..without looking it
> up..
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> Keith

Right on buddy! I dont know squat about C.W. artifacts...but can sense your excitement, so know its signifigant! Thank you for the history report too!!

Big time congrats Keith...I am a CW bullet guy and have never found one, and honestly where I hunt never expect too, but it sure would be a thrill! You even goit the more rare hexagonal over the cylindrical....awesome find!

Jack Flynn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ya know Keith, I have a couple of White
> muzzleloaders that Dr Gary White modeled after the
> Whitworth system. Long slip fit bullets and 1 in
> 20 twist barrels. They were are super accurate
> because of the b/c of the bullets. Way before the
> modern muzzleloaders of today these were shooting
> 2-300 yds very accurately.

Double that range, Jack, for killing shots of record during the CW. Not just Whitworths, but other rifled muskets in the hands of expert marksmen.

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

Keith, you deserve it for the effort you put into the hobby. I need to convince my wife we should move into a CW hunting area for retirement.

Nice job Keith - cool a detector that visited my house for a while found such a historical find.

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well thanks My friend Kevin!!!
>
> I found it with the F75 V2 certified by Tom by
> Route of Bryanna,,...Thanks Both!!!
>
> I was in 2f tone...99 sens...Je mode.. ground was
> 2 F.e. bars...58 GB..Zero disc..Quite as a mouse
> under power lines...
>
> Whitworth was about 9 inches deep..
>
> heres an answer to your question ...And I think
> the barrel was a 1-20 twist..without looking it
> up..
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> Keith

Bryanna - Nebraska

Current - New to me but not new MXT Pro and T2 SE2 - Previous Minelab Sovereign GT, Minelab Safari, Whites DFX, Whites Eagle Spectrum
Smile its a good for you!

Great find there Keith.

You know if someone like me had found that I would not have had a clue what it was. Not real sure I would have know it was even a bullet.

Great work.

Excellent find! Just makes it that much better when you know some history of where it was found.

WTG

Paleo..

In this county im in was one big battlefield....I mean a big one....

and I have 3 hex's out of it...I feel from my other finding's that these 3 hex's are with the same 14th Lousiana S.S. maybe down to the same man or small group of men having them.. and they have come from over a 8 mile spread...

I have one cylinderical dropped I got South of here in another county...Yet Im pretty sure same group of men...

I have these guys I follow around ( Ross' Texas cavalry) and attached to the Cavalry unit is some sharpshooters...there from the 14th Louisiana S.S. Austins brigade..

Everywhere I get the Whitworths Im in the same spot of the 3rd/6th/9th Texas Cavalry brigade..Thats Ross' Texas cavalry Brigade..I almost feel theres one or 2 guys with these guns and that's it...

Ive been tracking this brigade on and off though printed and private diarys for over 25 years..I know them like I live with them...Im obsessed wiht them for lack of better words...

I think that's why I have lucked up and found these 4 Whitworths....Just because there where they are supposed to be...plain and simple..

again thanks for the kind words !!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2015 03:14AM by Keith Southern.

Amazing Keith.

Just amazing.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold