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Hobby of Honor: Civil War Bullet Collecting

By: Kevin Bailey

Throughout the course of the Civil War, over 1,000 types of bullets were used. Although not very common, the hobby of collecting these bullets is definitely around. The main reason for this is because of the rapid development of firearms and ammunition, therefore new bullets and weapons were being put into regulation constantly.

The replacement of old round musketballs took place during this Civil War and were replaced with bullets in the shape that you see today. Although musketballs can still be found on the battlefields, the most common bullet that was used was the .58-caliber with three rings around the base. Over the course of these couple hundred years since the war, and the fact that most of the bullets found were shot at one point, you will find a lot of them that's shape is disformed. If you have any interest in the history of war or firearms, this hobby of collection is definitely one you should consider.

With the uprising of internet buying and selling, these bullets hit the market hard, and the prices skyrocketed. Normally, you would only be able to obtain these bullets by finding a shop that happened to sell them, or finding a person who had a collection of their own. Nowadays, people are selling them to collectors to make money, so they have raised the prices to turn out a higher profit. If you don't know the running rates for bullets, or are just starting your collection, it is a good idea to buy a price guide to ensure that you don't overpay for the bullet you are buying.

Often times collectors of these bullets also take the time to find other interesting artifacts from the past as well such as bullet molds and items from the Civil War era. In the Southeast, you will be able to find reenactments of the war; for the serious enthusiast, you might find interest in participating in one of these battles.

There are only two ways to really get a hold of these Civil War bullets. You can utilize online shopping such as Ebay to find bullets. The other one is by doing the searching yourself on the battlefields. Having a quality metal detector can make life a lot easier and you will definitely have more success in finding items. Because it does pick up anything metal, you will also find things like uniform buttons, bullet molds, belt buckles, along with other interesting items that ended up in battle. Unfortunately, getting the signal is the easiest part about your mission.

A lot of these metal objects that you will find are very deep into the ground, will not be easy to get out, and you have to pay close attention to the strength of the metal detector's signal so you dig in the right spot. Make sure to get a good headset to have the best ability to channel these frequencies into your digging area. Although hunting for relics is prohibited on protected battle areas, there are many homesites where battles took place which do not prohibit hunting. Find the owner and get permission to do this before going out and digging.

While this can be very exciting and tedious at sometimes, some people frown upon the idea of using a metal detector to find these pieces of history because soldiers lost their lives there. This is gathered by the fact that many bullet hunters find bones with their findings. But, this information and findings have led to more facts and discoveries of how the Civil War took place.

There are many reasons why the Civil War is so interesting, although the main one is what it stood for. Of course, slavery was not one of the high remarks of the United States, some people still discuss the issue of a strong central government versus states' rights. Civil War bullet or artifact collecting is not for everyone, but for those who do take interest in this hobby, it is a very rewarding one. While it can be sobering at time knowing these bullets caused many casualties to our people, they also commemorate their efforts to fight for freedom.

Article Source: http://www.articlepantry.com

Kevin Bailey loves hobbies. If you're interested in finding out more: Look at Cheap Jigsaw Puzzles, Shaped Jigsaw Puzzles, or Puzzle Piece Charm Bulk.

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