I am very impressed by the number of people asking to receive a copy of the
lead ball conversion table. Kudos to Mark Branstner for his work and for
sharing it so openly.

One could say that this list really has balls! But I, of course, wouldn't...

William Moss

-----Message d'origine-----
De : Bill Liebeknecht [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Envoyé : 14 avril 2008 11:16
À : [log in to unmask]
Objet : Re: Lead Ball Conversion Table

Mark,

Could you please send one to me as well.

Thanks 

Bill Liebeknecht
Hunter Research, Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of LeeAnne
Wendt
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 10:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Lead Ball Conversion Table

Please send me one as well.  Thanks.


LeeAnne Wendt
Lab Director


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Branstner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 9:21 PM
Subject: Lead Ball Conversion Table


> Hey Guys,
> 
> Although I'd be very surprised to learn that I was the first person 
> to do this, here goes:
> 
> Given the frequency of finding round lead ball and shot on historic 
> sites, and the fact that it has often been distorted in use, making 
> it difficult to accurately measure, I came up with an Excel table 
> that allows you to simply weigh the large shot or ball, and determine 
> gauge and/or caliber.  Of course, this assumes the shot or ball was 
> originally round and is still essentially whole ...
> 
> I created the conversion table to range from 1-200 Gauge or 1.671 - 
> 0.28 caliber, which should cover most anything firearms-related (and 
> even small cannon :-) ).  I realize  that there were 2 and 4  gauge 
> market shotguns out there, but it would be unlikely for them to be 
> shooting solid full-bore projectiles.  By the same token, anything 
> smaller than .28 caliber would almost certainly fall into the 
> buckshot or shotgun pellet range, where caliber measurement would be 
> largely unnecessary.
> 
> Note that I have cross-referenced GAUGE, CALIBER, GRAIN WGT, GRAM 
> WEIGHT, and ROUNDED GRAM WEIGHT and ROUNDED CALIBER.   This should 
> cross-correlate with historic sources, as well as modern literature, 
> and lab data.
> 
> I have not added information about standard sizes of buckshot, 
> shotgun pellets, etc., as that data is pretty readily available on 
> the web (Wikipedia).
> 
> If anybody wants a copy, please send me an e-mail and I will forward.
> 
> Mark
> 
> P.S.  Again, if somebody has already done this in a easily accessible 
> format, just ignore.
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Mark C. Branstner, RPA
> Historic Archaeologist
> 
> Illinois Transportation
> Archaeological Research Program
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
> 23 East Stadium Drive
> Champaign, IL 61820
> 
> Phone: 217.244.0892
> Fax: 217.244.7458
> Cell: 517.927.4556
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> "I hope there's pudding" - Luna Lovegood (HP5)
>