Research Reports By ASAC Members

Colonial Era Firearm Bullet Performance: A Live-Fire Experimental Study for Archaeological Interpretation

Revised 2024, Douglas D. Scott, Joel Bohy, Nathan Boor, Charles Haecker, William Rose, and Patrick Severts.

The study goals were to collect data and conduct live-fire experiments with faithful reproductions of typical and common colonial and other Revolutionary War weapons. The intent was to document and observe the impacts of experimentally fired balls into ballistic gelatin, an accepted tissue simulant with end coverings to simulate clothing of the era, and into a sand backstop. We also used a wooden palisade to obtain bullet impact information. Projectile deformation associated with varied ranges were catalogued. Our data exhibits excellent correspondence with other ballistic performance models, further validating those models and allowing us to compare our data findings with various data sets. A particularly valuable finding is that the approximate original caliber of fired and deformed lead balls can be accurately determined using the Sivilich Revised Formula. A Lead Bullet Deformation Index is also presented that we believe archaeologists will find useful.

Firearm Bullet Performance: Phase II, Live-Fire Experimental Study for Archaeological Interpretation

Revised 2024, Douglas D. Scott, Joel Bohy, Nathan Boor, Charles Haecker, Peter Bleed, Patrick Severts, and William Lees.

The results of this live-fire experiment with colonial, Revolutionary War, and American Civil War firearms adds to the investigation of late pre-modern gun use and enhance our previous work on colonial-era firearms (Scott et al. 2024). The intent behind the investigation was to determine the external ballistic bullet performance of a series of smoothbore shoulder and hand-fired guns of the type commonly used during the American Revolution, as well as rifled firearm performance for the same era and the American Civil War. The experimental effort also demonstrated, albeit with a small sample, that cloth impressions on spherical balls originated from passing through uniform cloth. No ball fired with a cloth patch was impressed with the patch weave, although more study is warranted.

British Pattern 1756 Long Land Musket Bullet Performance: A Live-Fire Experimental Study to Validate Known Bullet-Struck Objects from the First Day of the American Revolution

2024, Douglas D. Scott and Joel R. Bohy.

This live-fire experiment was conducted to determine if we could replicate spherical ball-damaged objects surviving from April 19, 1775, the first day of the American Revolution. The standing structures damaged by gun fire on April 19 now exist amidst a modern built and modified landscape. To better understand the surviving bullet-damaged structures and objects we employed an experimental approach, a live-fire validation study to determine if we could replicate the damage we observed and recorded. Our data exhibits excellent correspondence with other ballistic performance models of Brown Bess muskets, further validating those models and allowing us to compare our data findings with various data sets. The shots fired at replica house walls, interior panels, window shutters, colonial powder horns, and a ballistic gelatin bust very closely duplicated the documented bullet strikes surviving from April 19, 1775. The validation study clearly demonstrates that the British Brown Bess musket had the capability to penetrate various media and cause the damage that is observed in the surviving architectural elements and objects.