Old bullet ID

Hi Everyone, can somebody ID this bullet for me, it's just over 1+1/8" in length.
Thank you !

 

It looks more like a miniature of an artillery shell, with what appears to be a driving band modelled near the base.

Probably a 'sweetheart pin' q.v. for the girlfriend of an artilleryman.

 

Interesting AF, thank you.
The pin mechanism and hinge is classic Victorian era but this is probably newer than that, right ?

 

Quite possibly WWII.

 

The casing doesn't look like it's made of brass. Is it steel? Does a magnet stick to it?

I had my brother-in-law look at it and all he could tell for sure is it's a rim fire cartridge.
And said there were several calibers in the late 1800s / early 1900s that did not use separate primers. Would need you to measure the diameter with a calipers to know the exact caliber.

And he also said it could be possible it's a mini replica of an artillery shell, too.

 

Thank you AF.
Laura, my daughter took it with her so I'll check out those things when she brings it back.
Thank you for the help.

 

DH was in artillery in the military reserves way back when, so I showed him this thread. Here's his reply:
So it appears from the corrosion to be steel or iron, which was never used in firearms. There are machine marks on the base, which indicate it was turned on a lathe, a machine tool. Mass produced small arms bullets were and are cast, not machined. The pin is crudely made. If it is 1.125 inches long, then it's apparent caliber would be .250 inch, and that is far too small for any firearm of the 19th century, at least a military one. The ogive or curve of the point is not correct for modern ammo, and the sharp point ( called a "spitzer" round ) is unusual for small arms of the 19th century.
So I think it is a jeweller's interpretation of an artillery round, and not a real bullet.
That's my opinion only.

 

Maybe it's hollow. Any chance it opens? Pulling? Twisting? (Not to the point of damage of course.)

 

Just an update.
Highly magnetic, 7mm with my calipers, doesn't look like it opens and I don't think it's hollow, it's pretty heavy for it's size.
Thanks All !

 

maybe someone made it up out of the depleted uranium they use in AP shells?

 

It looks rather like an old dowel pin - used to line two pieces of wood up together.

The slightly wider part holds it in one piece of wood, the bullet nose fits into a collar in the other.

 

Trench art jewelry. I have many pieces made by my uncles when they were in WWII. Let's hope it's not made from depleted uranium!

 

I concur.....& lets hope it's not an explosive round !!!!

 

Thanks for the help Guys ! So......would it be in my best interest to get rid of it, and if so....how ?

 

Thanks Skeezix, good to know. It's heavy, but not more than I would have expected. My 25 yr old daughter took a liking to it so I let her keep it, just want to be sure in case I need to ask for it back.
Thank you All !

 

I think this is just bullet-shaped... no kind of real bullet. Not that I know anything about firearms, but I can't imagine any real bullet with that bulge towards the back. How would it sit in a firing chamber?

 

If 7mm diameter. that's been a popular military caliber for rifles and machine guns in 20th C in places like South America. I haven't seen a bullet constructed like that but there are so many 100's of thousands of bullet designs it could be an armor-piercing rifle/machinegun bullet. The copper-looking bulge would be the rotating band, needed to cause the bullet to spin-up going down the rifled bore, and the brass or copper nose could be an aid to penetration in reducing ricochets and shattered bullet cores. May be tungsten-carbide steel-check by trying to scratch it with screwdriver or knife blade (on shiny part) and if very hard to scratch, may be very hard armor-piercing steel such as tungsten-carbide. Or, post on BOCN (British Ordnance Collector's Network) as they will probably recognize it if it is a real ordnance item. Magnetism means it went thru a junkyard and a magnet picked up clumps of these to move them around. The corrosion pattern looks just like what I've seen on tungsten-carbide bullet cores that have been exposed to moisture.

 

I asked a friend who knows a lot more about small arms ammo than I do. He thinks it is made-up jewely item, to look like miniature artillery projectile. I now agree with him, way too labor-intensive for a mass-produced item such as a rifle bullet. However if you try and scratch it on the steel part with screwdriver blade and can't, there's still some chance it is a bullet.

 

Thank you Spring, I'll try the scratch test when my daughter visits next.