We Found A Bullet Inside A Slab Of Walnut!

February 9, 2015

Craig (one of our shop guys) was making fingerboards last week, and saw an unusual circular defect in the wood he was slicing. From experience, he knew that soon he would probably be finding a bullet. Sure enough, a few slices later, a copper-jacketed cylinder of lead was soon visible. He dug it out by hand.

Hole without the bullet

A bullet would likely destroy a $200 band saw blade, so it is good that Craig saw the telltale flaws in the wood before the blade got that far. Craig estimated (from how far the metal was from the bark of the tree) that the bullet has been in place for at least 40 years.

Bullet fits perfectly in the hole!

The piece of wood in the photos will end up making a perfectly good fingerboard (after the bullet hole is cut away). This copper-jacketed boat tail bullet is just over .30 inches in diameter, so we're guessing it is from a .308 rifle. 

Richard Ash