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4. Williams Type I Bullet for Union Repeating Gun .58 Caliber - Outstanding Example

Williams Type I Bullet for Union Repeating Gun .58 Caliber - Outstanding Example

Item: Williams Type I Bullet for Union Repeating Gun .58 Caliber - Outstanding Example
Condition: Excellent, excavated. The bullet has an overall white surface patina. Square projecting pin present. Nearly flawless.
Recovered: Williamsburg, VA area.
Approximate size: .576-inch diameter, .933-inch length, 448 grains weight. 
Reference: Similar examples can be found in the following Civil War relic reference books:

• "Round Ball to Rimfire, Part One by Dean S. Thomas page 243, #291.
• "Some Civil War Bullets 2" by Thomas J. Stelma, page 235, #07-163.
• "A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges" by James E. Thomas and Dean S. Thomas on pages 43 & 44, #160.
• "Civil War Projectiles II Small Arms & Field Artillery with Supplement" by W. Reid McKee and M. E. Mason, Jr., page 64, item 542.

See above pages in the additional images. 

Comments: This Williams Type I bullet for Union repeating gun is a very rare find and is probably the finest example I have ever seen. These bullets closely resemble the Williams "cleaner" type III bullet. The most noticeable difference is the protruding square shaped projecting pin. This rare bullet will be an excellent addition to any excavated Civil War bullet or general relic collection.

Additional information: These bullets were for use with a steel cartridge and fired from what is considered to be one of the "machine guns" of the Civil War. One of those was Ager's volley gun, or "coffee mill gun" and the following information regarding this particular gun, and its use, is found in "Civil War Guns" by William B. Edwards on page 229 as follows:

"One of the best guns to see service was little spoken of after the war. Of simple design, the principle may have added nothing radically new to repeating arm construction, but it was a good gun, the Union volley gun of Wilson Ager. Sometimes called, after the fact it had a carriage hopper like the hopper on a grinder, the "coffee mill gun," this .58 steel-charger repeater was regularly supplied with two barrels. They were supposed to be alternated during use to prevent them from getting too hot; actually in test one of the guns was fired till the barrel glowed and bits of metal issued from the muzzle with each shot."

"It used an open chamber, a cylinder the chambers of which were but grooves into which the steel cartridge would fall from the drum. At the back the steel cartridge had a musket nipple and could be recapped and reloaded and used many times. The drum was turned by means of the hand crank, and as each loaded groove came opposite the barrel, it was blocked up and fired."

"President Lincoln was persuaded to order ten of these guns from contractors Woodward & Cox of New York, at the price of $1,300 each. They were ordered November 2, 1861, and paid for November 4, 1861, presumably the date of delivery."

Further reading indicates that at the request of General George B. McClellan, President Lincoln authorized the purchase of an additional 50 additional guns.

"By July 8, 1862, a bill for 28 of these guns had been filed with the Ordnance Department, including delivery of at least this number."

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Product Code:

PC1219

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Price:

$395.00

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