Can this be a CANNON BALL?

[picnic42]

Peggy, (peggyg827) put this up on the Whites forum and got some good replies... But I have some questions about this.
She found this at a farm that has given up some civil war buttons and other relics in the past. It appears that both sides (blue and gray) have been thru this farmers field. The farmer was clearing some fields, he had scrapped off about 4 inches of soil by the time Peggy found this (about an inch deep)
First thought is CANNON BALL!!!!!
BUT...
it is not completely round... it is indeed round on one axis... but the other axis it is flattened. (think door knob). Or think of a rubber ball being pushed downward to form flatter top and bottom keeping the sides round.
Many think it is a cannon ball and some think it is a fired cannon ball... ALL SAY... IT COULD BE DANGEROUS!
What I can't imagine is... if it is off round... or door knob shaped... it would tear up the bore of the cannon upon firing! or get lodged in the bore and damage or destroy the cannon. I cannot see this thing being fired as it is shaped.... the very least the path of travel would be totally unpredictable.
We now have it in a bucket of water out back... but now some say that won't help at all if it is indeed live! We want to clean it... but hesitate greatly due to it might be live. If you look closely it does seem to have a raised area on the top... and could either be the fuse or ignitor area.
Has anyone found an off round cannon ball? Has anyone found a door knob shape? Does anyone have a pic of a 3 pound canon ball with a raised portion for fuse or ignitor?
How can a cannon ball be fired in a cannon with a raised portion like a fuse area? I can only think that only a round projectile that fits well, can be fired from a cannon. Surely not a ball with a raised area? Am I way off with this thought?
Historically.... does anyone know if 3 pounders ever had fuses or ignitors? Pics could help us a great deal.
This weighs 3 pounds but have not measured it yet.
We hope this is indeed a cannon ball.... but we are quite concerned about the safety of keeping it.
let us know what you think.
Ralph & Peggy

[vayank54]

A friend of mine dug one just like this at a house site that had civil war activity plus I've seen the exact same things listed as cannonballs on some relic dealers sites. I personally don't know if it is a cannonball or not and wondered myself about the raised area. The ones I've seen were soild and had no fuse so there was no danger if them exploding. Fuses would be made of brass, pewter, wood or paper. Never iron. Sorry I can't be of more help on this.

[ringfinder]

One time I found a, what I thought was a 6 pound cannonball. They only thing that was strange was it had a covering over it. I dug down over a foot to dig it out of the ground and it was at a home site that dated back to the early 1800's, maybe earlier.

For a long time, I thought it was a cannonball, until I took a trip to Williamsburg, Va. with my wife and some friends. We were walking around and went through one of the old gates, the gate had a weight on it tied to a rope. When you opened the gate the weight went up and when you released the gate the weight fell to the ground pulling the gate shut. The weight looked just like the, what I thought was a cannonball.

HH,Ringfinder

[picnic42]

We took a trip to Murfreesboro Tn to visit with an expert... he took one look at it and said it is not a cannon ball !
He said it is a ball that sat on top of an iron fence post!
I first thought that to be the case... and started to poke the rust off... after a moment or two I thought I better ask about this just in case. Glad I did... many said to be careful and it could be dangerous... but alas, it was an ornamental ball for a fence post.
Case closed.... lol
We now show it as a conversation piece... we both have fun telling the story!
Ralph & Peggy

[turgeo2004]

I found a what i think is a cannon ball in gonzales texas back in 94 on my uncles farm when i was a kid , it is solid dimensions 2 7/8 inch wide to 3 inch not perfectly round. Solid ball
there are a couple of TINY holes not large enough for a fuse unless maybe this is not a cannon ball but maybe an old hand grenade? did the texans have such a thing back then?
the hole is about 1 mm in diameter. im thinking it is not technologically possible to create a hollow iron ball with a 1 mm hole and be able to pour gunpowder in it. so maybe the hole came from something else.
(it is not that deep of a hole thow it could have sand or dirt in it to make it appear not so deep.)
Can anyone out there help me to verify what this ball is.

the battle of gonzales occured in that area. during texas revolution. but i have no idea wether this is from texan side or mexican side, is it a cannon ball or cannon shot?
or is it a rock crushing iron ball. (there are no mines in that area and i dont know of any in the past so i dont think it is rock crushing thing)
here is a pic

I dont have a way to scale this as i dont have a scale in my house. but it feels like a 4 pound ball maybe 5. so im guessing anywhere from 3 pounds to 6 pounds.
The gonzales cannon that the texans used in first shot of texas revolution takes a 6 pounder. so if i am able to wiegh this and it is 6 pounds then it most likely came from the gonzales cannon if so.
what do you guys think it might be worth? ASSUMING it is not a rock crushing ball. and is a real cannon ball.

I did alot of research it (havent wieghed it yet thow)