new dump, question about a mold.

[downstate]

anyone come across these before? I only found one half of the mold, house shows up on a 1853 map - just a foundation now (who wants to come help find with the privy?! []), started digging on a small bank to the rear of the house, shards all over (pontil shards too!) started to find bones & clam shells as well - but could only dig for about 20 minutes as the rain started moving in (found the dumping area after searching for a while with the metal detector) - but anyways, anyone else find these soapstone bullet molds that often? I thought it was neat and took it home, should get a nice day of digging in tomorrow!

 

[russo]

so that's what you were talking about, very cool

 

[myersdiggers1998]

the glass shard looks like a buffalo lithia water to me, nice bullet mold too.

 

[XRdsRev]

Neat piece, if you ever want to sell it, let me know. (PS look for the other half, it's got to be out there somewhere). These soapstone molds were used during the late 18th-early 19th century. Yours has cavities for several different sizes of ammunition including buck shot. I have seen many of them for casting anywhere from 1 to 30 balls. Yours is a medium size. Obviously they are handmade, each one is a little different and they provided a cheap alternative for people who couldn't afford a brass bullet mold. Best wishes.