Finding lead shot

[Norweb]

Why is there so much lead shot found when metal detecting. How did it get there as some of the places are old digging, did every prospector carry a shotgun. I am a hunter as well did they use it to get meat like roos or such. thanks, norm.

 

[Warble]

I think on some fields the old diggers habitually used to fire off their weapons up in the air on dusk. It was a way of displaying firepower and deterring thieves. Probably also helped keep the weapons in good nick after a day on the pan in your claim. Not sure about the prevalence of shotguns. I certainly come across my fair share of pellets that get the heart racing!

 

[Swinging & digging]

Teenagers in 1960s / 70 s Rabbit hunting I would say.

 

[goldtrapper]

In Australia prior to the 60's there was not the range of firearms out there to be used. The humble shotgun and .22 were the most commonly found and every farmer and a fair few townies would have had one of each. So Shotguns being good at killing a vast range of game with various size shot from 12's to AA's would have been mainly used with the .22 being used a lot for rabbits. But people still had to pay for ammunition. They could reload their own shot shells way cheaper than nowdays where it can cost more to reload shells than buy them.

 

[aussiefarmer]

I have heard alot of stories of gold miners letting shots fly on dark to let anyone near by know their claim is well protected, also the thousands of miners had to eat and im sure roos ,rabbits, possums, parrots would have been good hunting after a hard day on the pick and shovel.

Plus every shotgun shell fired puts 30 to 50 pellets into the area.

 

[Eldorado]

Warble and Aussiefarmer are right.
From one of Doug Stones books.

 

[SWright]

They did fire them off at dusk but primarily to reload with dry power for the night. during daytime on the claim it was unlikely they would be raided but if the weather was damp or even humid the power could get damp and not fire when you may need it to deter raiders at night. Also many early pistols used shot rather than balls which accounts for majority of the shot. True pistols were expensive so an effective shot pistol was used, Easier to load and maintain.

 

[Guest]

G'day

My guess would be its all about getting food as the old timers and later gold fossickers all hunted for food, I still know many prospectors that will take game to top up their meat supply, have had many goat leg roasts and roo steaks over the years, as much as I despise shooting for sport and wasting the animal I have no issue with hunting for food if its going to be used not wasted.

Apart from lead shot and many different types of slugs from 22's to large handgun slugs I have also found some musket balls as well, also found a very large 40/50 cal brass shell casing as well which I think might have been shot from a fighter plane.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[Gunter1]

Bit if youre finding lead shot , dies it mean no one has detected there , or used discrimination , or both ?

 

[grubstake]

Bit if youre finding lead shot , dies it mean no one has detected there , or used discrimination , or both ?

Probably neither, more likely those who came before didn't detect carefully enough and/or weren't skilled enough with their detectors to notice such tiny targets. And if they missed lead shot, they probably missed small gold too.

 

[mbasko]

I got a lot more excited about finding old musket balls or minie ball type lead than modern stuff.
The modern stuff can & does get replaced in some areas. The old stuff can't/doesn't.

 

[Deepseeker]

Good point mbasko, I hadn't thought of that. I have dug both in the GT, but a heck of a lot less .22 and no lead shot since I started swinging the 25" DD-X on the 5000. But the musket balls have got me thinking now. If they have been there for a century or more, and nobody else has found them, well I suppose it means either nobody has swung a coil over them or they have slipped through a gap in the timings of whatever machine they are running? That could well mean they have missed any similar sized gold nuggets in that area too. :Y:

 

[Moneybox]

Bit if youre finding lead shot , dies it mean no one has detected there , or used discrimination , or both ?

We found the side of a ridge once where we were getting a few nuggets but there was so much lead in big chunks, perhaps 303, that we walked away. We had something like a kilo of lead and they were coming out several to the metre. I can't even remember where that was but I think it must have been down Leanora way. Anyway there was certainly gold still there when we left

 

[Deepseeker]

Bit if youre finding lead shot , dies it mean no one has detected there , or used discrimination , or both ?

Probably neither, more likely those who came before didn't detect carefully enough and/or weren't skilled enough with their detectors to notice such tiny targets. And if they missed lead shot, they probably missed small gold too.

My apologies grubstake, I just realized that you had already summed up likewise in your statement that I missed before posting a reply to mbasko's post.

 

[A-team]

Today we went to the Maryborough area - between the wife and I, we collected around 2 dozen lead shot among other trash. Even got a glory hole with 3 in it! So either people are really really smart and know what every lead shot target sounds like and just moves on, or people are still missing targets, and probably GOLD? Now I recently had a lead shot and gold as 2 targets side by side, before I dug them, they sounded IDENTICAL. Maybe my hearing needs checking....

Also, who was that prospector riding his road/trail motorbike with detector strapped to the carry rack?

Don't worry, plenty more shot out there to dig, you wont miss out 8.(

 

[deepblue]

Didn't see you out there today A-Team, only thing that passed me was a very new white Toyota Hi-Lux was too clean and shiny to be a prospector. Looked like a day tripper that was lost. Only dug 2 targets and both were very small gold so you must have cleaned up all the rubbish for me. :lol: :lol:
Cheers db

 

[thedigger]

In the early days of detecting musket balls were very common,you would always seem to pick up several a day,now they seem not around at all.

 

[A-team]

Didn't see you out there today A-Team, only thing that passed me was a very new white Toyota Hi-Lux was too clean and shiny to be a prospector. Looked like a day tripper that was lost. Only dug 2 targets and both were very small gold so you must have cleaned up all the rubbish for me. :lol: :lol:
Cheers db

Yep, I saw them too - looked a bit out of place? I drive a silver Falcon wagon and its more scratched up than that - it also (sometimes) doubles as a 4WD when going REAL slow. Have taken it right through Daylsford hills but go hung up on ruts at Creswick recently so the wife toned me down.

We go out 2-3 times a week, always moving around swinging Zeds, if you see us, stop and say hi (I didn't see you though). We tried a few spots from Havelock down to Craigie, found the weather and EMI a bit distracting yesterday - lots of ground around there.

P.S. you are welcome, happy to find lead shot - just means you haven't been there collecting the gold yet :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Nightjar]

We found the side of a ridge once where we were getting a few nuggets but there was so much lead in big chunks, perhaps 303, that we walked away. We had something like a kilo of lead and they were coming out several to the metre. I can't even remember where that was but I think it must have been down Leanora way. Anyway there was certainly gold still there when we left

MB,
Maybe it was the abandoned rifle range on the east side of the Goldfields Hwy opposite the old Teutonic Minesite, now Jaguar?
There's gold in those hills.

 

[goldtrapper]

WWI era!