I went to an auction Saturday and picked up a box lot of old misc ammo and this minnie ball was in the mix.  The box had a bunch of Spencer and Burnside ammo plus this interesting minnie ball.  It was in an envelope from Rutgers University Archeology Dept and that is all it said.  It has a round ball in the base of the minie.  I have done some digging and cant find anything like it, was it a field mod?  Anyone know what I have?

Looks like you have a minie ball with a round ball stuck in the bottom. I've done a bit of studying on the civil war and, occasionally, troops would put smaller shot between the patch and minie to inflict more damage...similar to the modern shotgun shells that have a large ball packed in with buck shot.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

Looks like a .54 cal round ball shoved into a thin-skirted .58 Minnie Ball.

 

I have a Civil War Historian for a friend, so I'll inquire about this and get back to you.

 

Dave