My 9yr old loves to go metal detecting and recently found a baseball sized iron ball with a small flat spot on it. It is definitely old but I am wondering if anyone knows the sizes used on civil war and revolutionary war era cannon balls. I cannot think of what else this could be.
Cannon ball
- Thread starter mnhntr
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Wish you had posted a picture!
I became somewhat familiar with cannon balls after I bought "one" at a flea market. Turned out, not a cannon ball. Maybe a grinding ball.
I don't remember exact sizes, three inches, four inches is about right for a 12 lb Napoleon. There were 6 pounders. I hope an expert can confirm, but I was told 12 pounds was the weight of the ball and charge. So, a 12 lb Napoleon could fire a 10 lb ball.
What has me worried is your statement about "a flat spot". I recommend going to google pictures and type in "civil war cannonball fuse". I put my link below.
https://www.google.com/search?q=civ...ce=univ&sa=X&ei=qqi1U6gQ15uoBphO&ved=0CCcQsAQ
If your ball has a fuse, you have a real problem. Explosive shells had mushroom headed fuses, and those fuses did not always work. As long as the blackpowder inside the shell stayed dry it will go boom forever! I have a newspaper cutting from the 70's where a relic shop owner tried to drill out a CW cannon ball and set the main charge off.
He is no longer with us 
Look at the pictures and puzzle out whether you have a solid shot or an explosive shot.
As an aside, I took my grinding ball around to trying to determine if it was a real cannon ball. Talking to an EOD expert, he had been to a little old lady's house to look at her cannon balls. These were nicely stored on either side of the fireplace, they were fused, and the explosive charges were intact! If anyone had rolled them into the fire, for a grin, or maybe an ember had worked its way down the fuse channel, there would have been a big bang at Granny's house!
I have been told that the two "cannon balls" I bought were in fact, industrial grinding balls. Cannon balls are very round, mine are not perfect. You may have something used in pulverizing stuff in a rotary mill.
I became somewhat familiar with cannon balls after I bought "one" at a flea market. Turned out, not a cannon ball. Maybe a grinding ball.
I don't remember exact sizes, three inches, four inches is about right for a 12 lb Napoleon. There were 6 pounders. I hope an expert can confirm, but I was told 12 pounds was the weight of the ball and charge. So, a 12 lb Napoleon could fire a 10 lb ball.
What has me worried is your statement about "a flat spot". I recommend going to google pictures and type in "civil war cannonball fuse". I put my link below.
https://www.google.com/search?q=civ...ce=univ&sa=X&ei=qqi1U6gQ15uoBphO&ved=0CCcQsAQ
If your ball has a fuse, you have a real problem. Explosive shells had mushroom headed fuses, and those fuses did not always work. As long as the blackpowder inside the shell stayed dry it will go boom forever! I have a newspaper cutting from the 70's where a relic shop owner tried to drill out a CW cannon ball and set the main charge off.
He is no longer with us Look at the pictures and puzzle out whether you have a solid shot or an explosive shot. As an aside, I took my grinding ball around to trying to determine if it was a real cannon ball. Talking to an EOD expert, he had been to a little old lady's house to look at her cannon balls. These were nicely stored on either side of the fireplace, they were fused, and the explosive charges were intact! If anyone had rolled them into the fire, for a grin, or maybe an ember had worked its way down the fuse channel, there would have been a big bang at Granny's house!
I have been told that the two "cannon balls" I bought were in fact, industrial grinding balls. Cannon balls are very round, mine are not perfect. You may have something used in pulverizing stuff in a rotary mill.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
See this site for Civil war cannon & canister shot sizes.
http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
If its iron, has a flat sprue spot, and a mold seam 90 degrees from the sprue hole, or intersecting it?
It is a ball mill ball used to crush rock into powder for making cement.
Plus a lot of other materials that need to be turned into powder.
rc
http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm
If its iron, has a flat sprue spot, and a mold seam 90 degrees from the sprue hole, or intersecting it?
It is a ball mill ball used to crush rock into powder for making cement.
Plus a lot of other materials that need to be turned into powder.
rc
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
No reason for that.
It could just as easily be a cannon ball as a ball mill ball.
Might even be a woman's or kids shot-put ball??
I'd like to see a picture of it though.
And exact measurement & weight would be nice too.
Could figure out if it's a solid shot, or a hollow iron shell, filled with explosive?
rc
It could just as easily be a cannon ball as a ball mill ball.
Might even be a woman's or kids shot-put ball??
I'd like to see a picture of it though.
And exact measurement & weight would be nice too.
Could figure out if it's a solid shot, or a hollow iron shell, filled with explosive?
rc
44 Dave
Member
What do they use for shot put in field games? I think I have one some where.
Rojelio
Member
I found an iron ball in a field south of San Antonio. I don't know if it's a cannonball or not but I saved it anyway.
It's about 2 1/2" in diameter and weighs about 2 1/3 lbs. There's no seams on it just some pitting.
What say the experts?
It's about 2 1/2" in diameter and weighs about 2 1/3 lbs. There's no seams on it just some pitting.
What say the experts?
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Panzerschwein
member
Be careful! Some cannon ball were filled with explosives.
A guy recently died when a 9" Civil War cannon ball exploded on him. He died instantly.
Just because they are old doesn't mean they still can't explode.
A guy recently died when a 9" Civil War cannon ball exploded on him. He died instantly.
Just because they are old doesn't mean they still can't explode.
kBob
Member
Closest I have come to this was at Graffenhower Germany training grounds
In a wooded hill side next to WolfSchessen Chapel we dug up a bunch of round balls about one inch or 25 mm or so that seemed to be badly corroded iron. I believed them to be individual shot from a canister round of some large caliber from when only Germans trained at Graff'. Our leaders were terrified that they had explosives in them. Far more dangerous than old rust iron balls were the occasional bits of very modern shell fragments that wizzed through the area from the ajoining tank live fire area, but no telling 2Lts what is or is not dangerous........
I did find a good bit of individual shrapnel shot at Ft. Sill on the compass courses along with fuzes and shards from 75mm Saucy Cans of pre WWII vintage. Those shot were lead and made excellent fodder for my wrist rocket. Some of the worst mangled ones found their way into a lead pot and got to be 158 grain SWC .357 bullets. There were in those areas also horny toads, trantulas, rattlers and the biggest centipeids I ever wished to see and young male buffalo with bad attitudes.
-kBob
In a wooded hill side next to WolfSchessen Chapel we dug up a bunch of round balls about one inch or 25 mm or so that seemed to be badly corroded iron. I believed them to be individual shot from a canister round of some large caliber from when only Germans trained at Graff'. Our leaders were terrified that they had explosives in them. Far more dangerous than old rust iron balls were the occasional bits of very modern shell fragments that wizzed through the area from the ajoining tank live fire area, but no telling 2Lts what is or is not dangerous........
I did find a good bit of individual shrapnel shot at Ft. Sill on the compass courses along with fuzes and shards from 75mm Saucy Cans of pre WWII vintage. Those shot were lead and made excellent fodder for my wrist rocket. Some of the worst mangled ones found their way into a lead pot and got to be 158 grain SWC .357 bullets. There were in those areas also horny toads, trantulas, rattlers and the biggest centipeids I ever wished to see and young male buffalo with bad attitudes.
-kBob
Steel Horse Rider
Member
I stumbled upon an open mining museum in Nederland Colorado last weekend and they had a bucket of grinding balls used in processing the ores from the Boulder County mines in the late 1800's. They looked very much like cannon balls. If your ball does not have a seam or an opening for a fuse I don't think it is likely to contain gunpowder......
Steel Horse Rider
Member
That looks very similar to the grinding balls on display in the museum. They started out much larger but were worn down to about golf ball size before being taken out of service.
the Black Spot
Member
I have a six pounder, but mine is a shot put from the local high school ..
Peter M. Eick
Member
If I were to guess, seeing you are in MN, it is probably an iron ball for processing mining ore.
These were used in "rod and ball mills" where you took your high graded iron ore, dumped it in a rotating drum with rods and balls and then rotated it so the natural weight of the ore would crush it down fine enough that the balls and rods can then finish the job up. You then collected the balls and rods with a magnet or just left them in the ore and send them to be processed to steel/iron.
I used to have a bunch of them I picked up on one of my geologic field trips around Houghton, MI where I went to college. I found an old rod and ball mill for copper ore decades ago and picked up a few as paper weights and pry bars.
These were used in "rod and ball mills" where you took your high graded iron ore, dumped it in a rotating drum with rods and balls and then rotated it so the natural weight of the ore would crush it down fine enough that the balls and rods can then finish the job up. You then collected the balls and rods with a magnet or just left them in the ore and send them to be processed to steel/iron.
I used to have a bunch of them I picked up on one of my geologic field trips around Houghton, MI where I went to college. I found an old rod and ball mill for copper ore decades ago and picked up a few as paper weights and pry bars.
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