Lead shot of the day

[justin]

Anyone got one of these in their collection? I am interested to see if there are others out there.
This is lead shot for an early muzzle loaded rifle - essentially a ball with a conical top and cast rifling.
171 grains (11 grams)
.493 inches (12.5mm) diameter
.633 inches (16mm) long

The seven rifling 'studs' are part of the construction of the shot (a mechanical fit to the bore of the rifle) and not a result of having been fired, along the lines of weapons like the Jacobs and Brunswick rifles.

 

[Falcon]

Which way was this projectile loaded into the gun?

Did the pointed end face towards or away from the target when fired?

 

[justin]

As far as I can tell, the pointed end faces forwards toward the target. I might be wrong.
There are a couple of references to this shot in 19th century documents and though vague, they always suggest the pointed end is the front of the projectile.