These Minié ball bullets were discovered using metal detectors on private land in various Civil War battlefields in Virginia.

Each has been fired, unlike the other "dropped" bullets we sell. A variety of calibers is included in this lot, though the damage that these rounds sustained on impact has deformed some of them beyond recognition.

The Minié ball was a game changer for modern warfare. Previously, musket balls were inaccurate, low powered, and could take a full minute to load. Soldiers often just ended up using their bayonets instead.

However, the Minié ball changed that. Suddenly, rifles were more accurate, more deadly, and much more practical. The main advantage of this new style of musket ball was that it allowed for rifles to be fully utilized during combat, an impossible feat just a few years earlier. The Minié ball drastically shortened the time it took to reload, by both fitting easily down the barrel of a rifle and eliminating the need for constant cleaning. They also exited the barrel at bone shattering speeds and hit their mark with greater precision. For better or for worse, this new projectile had changed warfare forever.

President Lincoln visiting the battlefield at Antietam, 1862

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