Possible cannon ball?:

May be OT but black powder is required.

While in Florida, I could not find a place that would let me use my metal detector. Thus I poked around in a local flea market (Webster) and saw what I thought was a cannon ball.

Vendor wanted $5.00 so I would not be out much.

The ball is solid metal with a flat sprue mark,mold mark, and a small hole intersecting the mold line. Not a fuse hole.

It weighs 6 pounds and 8 ozs. Circumference is 11 inches (28cms) measured by a cloth tape. I miked it and it showed 8.93 inches.

I went to several cannon projectile web sites but they mainly list Civil War and my ball does not match up in either size or weight. Images to follow if it quits raining!! Thanks..

def sounds like a cannon ball, most likely a rev war-war of 1812 type. Had a reference of all types of cannon projectiles somewhere, got to see if I can find it. Sounds like a british 6 pounder (or the like) projectile to me, without acctually seeing a pic.

Make sure it is inert ... :)

Here's an old thread, but still valuable....

Casualty of the Hobby (click here)

Let's be careful out there ... :eek:

Regards,
Badger

A circumference of 11 inches would be a diameter of 3.5 inches. That would be close to what a 6 pounder field piece would fire. The seam and sprue don't sound correct though. A foundry in a nearby town turned out cannon balls by the hundreds years ago, and they still show up from time to time. All have the tell tale seam and sprue.
What was the 8.93 measurement? Is it a ball or a shell?

We find a lot of them thar "cannon balls" out here in the west. Now I don't know about your find, BUT our mines have Rod Mills to crush ore. which then is carried to BALL MILLS that grind the ore even further. The ball mills eventualy turn those "cannon balls" into heavy sand. Not everything that looks like a cannon ball is one.

I believe your small hole is simply a casting flaw.

I grew in that area around the old Dade battlefield and that area has lots of pre-civil war artifacts as well as Seminole indian artifacts. I found a solid cannon ball in between Ridge Manor and Webster when I was kid. Also have a lot of indian projectile points. The cannon ball and a flint axe-head I had was stolen, but I still have some of the rest. I have no idea what you have, but it could be pre-civil war if locally found.

Regards,
Pat

It is a ball. Thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Johnny Peppers

A circumference of 11 inches would be a diameter of 3.5 inches. That would be close to what a 6 pounder field piece would fire. The seam and sprue don't sound correct though. A foundry in a nearby town turned out cannon balls by the hundreds years ago, and they still show up from time to time. All have the tell tale seam and sprue.
What was the 8.93 measurement? Is it a ball or a shell?

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As this is all new to me, one information source said that the Confederate cannon balls usually had the seam. Can't verify though. It is a ball. Thanks..

Thanks to those who offered help with my cannon ball. I got my metric mixed up with my inch system. The ball mikes at 3.50 inches and weight is 6lbs and .08 ozs.

That makes it a 6 pounder or a 3.69 inch caliber. I verified it here...

The Civil War Artillery Projectile and Cannon Home Page

A six-pounder was the standard "horse artillery". It is shot; I think folks can stop worrying whether it is a shell, as a shell would weigh only about 4 pounds and even spherical case would be lighter than 6+ pounds. It would originally have had a sabot on it.

Jim

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...IMG_1560-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...IMG_1561-1.jpg

I don't believe that is a cannon ball. The originals were typically very smooth unless pitted from ground action. That looks more like the ones the local foundry turned out about 50 years back, including the crude sprue and the raised mold line.
My son has all of mine, but I will try to pick up a couple and make pictures.
This is a fragment of a Confederate 12 pounder that used a wood and paper time fuse. The picture shows the smooth surface under the rust, and this piece lay in the ground for 130 years.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../25gds3k-1.jpg

Iron balls were fairly common in Victorian architecture, being used as bases for railings, to anchor chain fences and as decoration on or around buildings. and the ball mill was common in ore mining areas. (A ball mill was sort of like a large case tumbler, where iron balls were used to crush ore. Of course, the balls themselves eventually wore to nothing but when more modern crushers were invented, spare balls were scavenged for other uses.)

(The above has been processed by the National Double Meaning Association and pronounced free of giggles, titters and snide remarks concerning the writer's anatomy and possession or lack thereof of balls of iron or other substances.)

Jim