[off-topic] Musket ball size answer--reliable source
james edward mc hie
question must be losing sleep, I thought I would make a quick inquiry to a
knowledgable source on the subject.
The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
caliber is the right number.
Source: The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, www.nmlra.org
Many of you probably already knew this for sure anyway but for those of us
who didn't, well, here's the answer.
It just seemed to keep coming up . . .
--
Jim
Eric Evans
No wait, that was communists HAVE bigger musket balls. Aw shoot, I don't
remember now...
Just kidding, Jim.
james edward mc hie wrote in message
<6p2e4r$k9u$1...@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu>...
Gary Hladik
>Since everyone who doesn't know the answer to the now-famous musket ball
>question must be losing sleep, I thought I would make a quick inquiry to a
>knowledgable source on the subject.
>The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
>popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
>caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
>approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
>approximately 3/4 of an inch--
It isn't. The term "caliber" is an obsolete term used in the 1700's
to refer to a baseball. So a .75 caliber musket took a lead ball
about 3/4 the diameter of a baseball. In other words, when Mr. Blakemore
wrote that a musket of that era fired baseball-sized rounds, he was
exaggerating, but not by much.
Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)
Gary
Thrasher
edward mc hie) wrote:
>The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
>popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
>caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
>approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
>approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
>caliber is the right number.
Didn't your reliable source explain that "calibre" is measured by
inches? .75 "calibre" is NOT approximately .75 of an inch, it is
EXACTLY .75 of an inch. Unless we are talking about .38 caliber, which
is actually .357, but that's a different story...
>Many of you probably already knew this for sure anyway but for those of us
>who didn't, well, here's the answer.
What size musket balls were fired by blunderbusses in the 1600's?
james edward mc hie
Thrasher <spect...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On 21 Jul 1998 16:03:39 GMT, jmc...@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (james
>edward mc hie) wrote:
>
>>The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
>>popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
>>caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
>>approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
>>approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
>>caliber is the right number.
>
>Didn't your reliable source explain that "calibre" is measured by
>inches? .75 "calibre" is NOT approximately .75 of an inch, it is
>EXACTLY .75 of an inch. Unless we are talking about .38 caliber, which
>is actually .357, but that's a different story...
The first communication I got from them just said .75 caliber. After I
emailed them back expressing my ignorance about how caliber translates
into size, I received a second response saying it was 3/4 of an inch. I
put in approximately because, even giving a small degree of error, there
is no way to mistake 3/4 of an inch for a baseball.
>>Many of you probably already knew this for sure anyway but for those of us
>>who didn't, well, here's the answer.
>
>What size musket balls were fired by blunderbusses in the 1600's?
Er, hrm. I dunno but I'll bet the nice folks at the National Muzzle
Loading Rifle Association could tell you.
--
Jim
Christopher Cyr
usually just read, but i can't let false info run rampant on
the web.
actually,
it's ridiculous that caliber has any relation to baseballs...
this comes from a national geographic:
caliber comes from the French word "la calde'beer", and it means
"of the beer". so a ball .75 caliber, would shoot a ball
3/4 of a beer, sized ball, which explains why australians shot much
bigger bullets in the great fosters-kangaroo war of 1918, and
the irish shoot much warmer, thicker (tastier imho) balls...
c^2
Quote Of the Day:
Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.
Kevin A. Roll
In article <6p2e4r$k9u$1...@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu>,
jmc...@copper.ucs.indiana.edu says...
> The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
> popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
> caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
> caliber is the right number.
I checked with a mathematician. Indeed, .75 is approximately 3/4.
--
Personal Homepage: http://www.cyberdrive.net/~kroll
Chew's Eye Shop Homepage: http://www.bge.net/chews
"Safety copies of one's self... with no consciousness..." - Haujobb
Nai-Chi Lee
...
>It isn't. The term "caliber" is an obsolete term used in the 1700's
>to refer to a baseball. So a .75 caliber musket took a lead ball
>about 3/4 the diameter of a baseball.
On come on Gary, you must be smoking grass or something. Anything that
fires baseball-sized rounds has to be called a cannon. Now, remove the
ball from your mouse (computer mouse, that it) and take a good look at
it. That thing is about 0.75 inch in diameter. Doesn't that look like
a more reasonable size for a musket ball?
> In other words, when Mr. Blakemore
>wrote that a musket of that era fired baseball-sized rounds, he was
>exaggerating, but not by much.
>Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)
Wait a minute... was baseball even invented in the 1700's?
Phew! For a moment I thought you were serious.
;-)
--
Nai-Chi
Jimmy Chan
:#It isn't. The term "caliber" is an obsolete term used in the 1700's
:#to refer to a baseball. So a .75 caliber musket took a lead ball
:#about 3/4 the diameter of a baseball. In other words, when Mr. Blakemore
:#wrote that a musket of that era fired baseball-sized rounds, he was
:#exaggerating, but not by much.
Waitaminute. Maybe the had miniature-baseball back then. If they did then
Cleve could be right. Boy, little league sure takes on a whole new meaning
now.
:#Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)
ditto.
--
==============================ji...@hawaii.edu===============================
duquesne
last I checked...caliber is an obsolete term from the 1700's? ...
I am now going to thoroughly examine my daughters history books
because this is starting to scare me now!!
Ben Flieger
Jimmy Chan wrote in message <6p34sc$q...@news.Hawaii.Edu>...
>Gary Hladik (ga...@netcom.com) wrote:
>:#It isn't. The term "caliber" is an obsolete term used in the
1700's
>:#to refer to a baseball. So a .75 caliber musket took a lead ball
>:#about 3/4 the diameter of a baseball. In other words, when Mr.
Blakemore
>:#wrote that a musket of that era fired baseball-sized rounds, he was
>:#exaggerating, but not by much.
>
>Waitaminute. Maybe the had miniature-baseball back then. If they
did then
>Cleve could be right. Boy, little league sure takes on a whole new
meaning
>now.
Ty Cobb could've played baseball with musketballs if he wanted to.
HA! A joke no one will get, even though it's pretty damn funny.
Andy S.
> question must be losing sleep, I thought I would make a quick inquiry to a
> knowledgable source on the subject.
>
> popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
> caliber. According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
> caliber is the right number.
>
> who didn't, well, here's the answer.
>
>
> --
> Jim
>
I'm sure Cleve Blakemore will be able to come up with a way to rationalize his
famous claim that during the Revolutionary War musket balls were the size of
baseballs: 1. He meant "approximately" the size of baseballs, 2. He's no
baseball fan and he thought baseballs really were 3/4 of an inch in diameter,
3. His claim was obviously meant as a joke and should not have been taken
seriously, 4. He wrote the post after being awake for 24 hours working on
Grimoire, the greatest RPG that never was. Anyone have any other
rationalizations for Cleve?
Andy S.
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum
Jimmy Chan
:#Let's see..baseball wasn't even invented untill the late 1800's
:#last I checked...caliber is an obsolete term from the 1700's? ...
:# I am now going to thoroughly examine my daughters history books
:#because this is starting to scare me now!!
Check anthropology books. You'll find that many cultures had games/sports
similar to modern games/sports. Hawaiians had something akin to bowling long
before modern bowling was invented.
--
==============================ji...@hawaii.edu===============================
"boo_inigma@paradox.com"
<cc...@wpi.edu> wrote:
>caliber comes from the French word "la calde'beer", and it means
>"of the beer". so a ball .75 caliber, would shoot a ball
>3/4 of a beer, sized ball, which explains why australians shot much
>bigger bullets in the great fosters-kangaroo war of 1918,
Hey, that's funny! But you knew that. ;-}
Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its
pupils. - Hector-Louis Berlioz
mlwilliams
>
> According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
> approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
> caliber is the right number.
Actually it is 3/4 of a metre. Calibre is a french word and the french
operate in metres. The .75 calibre shot was favoured for use in the
petard but also used by some adventurous musketmen.
PJL
<6p3eik$roj$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
> In article <6p2e4r$k9u$1...@flotsam.uits.indiana.edu>,
> jmc...@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (james edward mc hie) wrote:
> > Since everyone who doesn't know the answer to the now-famous musket
ball
> > question must be losing sleep, I thought I would make a quick inquiry
to a
> > knowledgable source on the subject.
> >
> > The answer: muskets of the Revolutionary War era, such as the widely
> > popular brown bess, generally used musket balls of approximately .75
> > approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
> > approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
> > caliber is the right number.
> >
> >
> > Many of you probably already knew this for sure anyway but for those of
us
> > who didn't, well, here's the answer.
> >
> > It just seemed to keep coming up . . .
> >
> > --
> > Jim
> >
>
> I'm sure Cleve Blakemore will be able to come up with a way to
rationalize his
> famous claim that during the Revolutionary War musket balls were the size
of
> baseballs: 1. He meant "approximately" the size of baseballs, 2. He's no
> baseball fan and he thought baseballs really were 3/4 of an inch in
diameter,
> 3. His claim was obviously meant as a joke and should not have been taken
> seriously, 4. He wrote the post after being awake for 24 hours working on
> Grimoire, the greatest RPG that never was. Anyone have any other
> rationalizations for Cleve?
>
5) It was a troll to get people talking about balls
"boo_inigma@paradox.com"
<mwil...@signal.dera.gov.uk> wrote:
>Actually it is 3/4 of a metre. Calibre is a french word and the french
>operate in metres. The .75 calibre shot was favoured for use in the
>petard but also used by some adventurous musketmen.
Then these adventurous musketmen walked around with
"elephant" balls?
Nuclear test site available in my pants. Will Travel.
John Fuesting
system, definately before France adopted the metric system. .75 calibre is
3/4 of an inch. The calibre is an expression of 10'ths, 100'ths and 1000'ths
of an inch.
mlwilliams wrote in message <35B5C1...@signal.dera.gov.uk>...
>james edward mc hie wrote:
>>
>> approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
>> approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
>> caliber is the right number.
>
Riboflavin
>I'm sure Cleve Blakemore will be able to come up with a way to rationalize
his
>famous claim that during the Revolutionary War musket balls were the size
of
>baseballs: 1. He meant "approximately" the size of baseballs, 2. He's no
>baseball fan and he thought baseballs really were 3/4 of an inch in
diameter,
>3. His claim was obviously meant as a joke and should not have been taken
>seriously, 4. He wrote the post after being awake for 24 hours working on
>Grimoire, the greatest RPG that never was. Anyone have any other
>rationalizations for Cleve?
I'll tell you what, Andy, it takes a lot of balls for someone like Cleve to
post such off-base information (this ain't just a rounding error) to a group
of people like this who are so on the ball and will give him the third
strike when he starts to roll out the weird science. Your post was the grand
slam on Cleve as far as I'm concerned, he can't bounce back after this!
--
Kevin Allegood ribotr...@mindspring.pants.com
Remove the pants from my email address to reply.
"They've been in a pissing contest with each other for so
long I'm surprised their bladders haven't imploded." Brian Bax
Greg Locock
Oh, John, ever been trolled?
By the way, a .75 calibre lead ball weighs just shy of 2 ounces, not
exactly a baseball ball, but certainly a bit different to your modern
day slug.
--
Cheers
Greg Locock
Courageous
> exactly a baseball ball, but certainly a bit different to your modern
I would suspect that any modern day .75 caliber slug would way
*more* than 2 ounces if a .75 caliber lead ball weighs 2 ounces.
Modern slugs tend to be longer then they are wide..............
--
"Government, even in its best state, is but a
necessary evil, and in its worst state
an intolerable one." -- Thomas Paine.
mlwilliams
>
> Well, calibre measurements were around quite awhile before the metric
> system, definately before France adopted the metric system. .75 calibre is
> 3/4 of an inch. The calibre is an expression of 10'ths, 100'ths and 1000'ths
> of an inch.
> mlwilliams wrote in message <35B5C1...@signal.dera.gov.uk>...
> >james edward mc hie wrote:
> >>
> >> According to the person I was in contact with, .75 caliber is
> >> approximately 3/4 of one inch. Now I do not know if .75 caliber is
> >> approximately 3/4 of an inch--that's just what was sent to me, but .75
> >> caliber is the right number.
> >
> >Actually it is 3/4 of a metre. Calibre is a french word and the french
> >operate in metres. The .75 calibre shot was favoured for use in the
> >petard but also used by some adventurous musketmen.
You people are a priceless international resource - please don't ever
let anyone put you down.
Armidabo
wrote:
>> By the way, a .75 calibre lead ball weighs just shy of 2 ounces, not
>> exactly a baseball ball, but certainly a bit different to your modern
>
>I would suspect that any modern day .75 caliber slug would way
>*more* than 2 ounces if a .75 caliber lead ball weighs 2 ounces.
>Modern slugs tend to be longer then they are wide..............
According to a book I have, a .700 calibre bullet weighs about 2.28
ounces (1000 grains). It's about 3.3 cm long and the whole cartridge
is some 10 cm (10 inches) long...
/Michael
Armidabo
wrote:
Should be *4* inches of course.
>
> /Michael
John Fuesting
on before I send!
<snip>
>Oh, John, ever been trolled?
>
>exactly a baseball ball, but certainly a bit different to your modern