shot/grape shot ?

[eborac]

hi all,
i found this iron pot/container on a beach near where there is supposed to be an 1860's wreck. it is about 13" high and although slightly deformed (fire ?) about 7" dia. it is full of small lead balls about 5/8" dia. the lot is very heavy. I reburied it in the original position.
i just wondered if it is ww2 stuff or earlier. cheers hh

[Peg Leg]

Why did you rebury the object.
It appears to have been a KEEPER.I would go and get it,
Peg Leg

[daydreamer]

DO you know what might be under all the shot balls? How long is the entire object? I know I would dig it all up and excavate the center out to see what it holds. You might also get a compass bearing on a permanent point to be able to come back to the find later in case it is significant.

[theGOLD]

Well, I've seengrape shot canisters like that one only mine are a bit different. The balls inside are a bit larger. The ones I know of basically have a rod of iron and a circular wooden plunger the whole thing was wrapped in a canvas type material. The ones I am talking about are called canister shot. Heres a wikipedia link on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canister_shot

and heres one on grapeshot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_shot

Hope that helps in any way shape or form.

-theGOLD

[dasabighole]

Looks like a cannister shot to me. 5/8 balls = 58 cal shot, civil war period. Go back and get it.

[MichaelB]

Looks similiar to what I found but your walls look thicker.

MichaelB

[eborac]

thanks all for your input. civil war time ? well that is yet to come in australia. michaelb i don't want to brag here but mine's literally twice the size of yours :-). seriously, when you take a closer look at the base of the container you can see two rather even grooves going around it. they look a bit like of a more modern manufacture to me. what's your opinion.

[ScubaDude]

O.K. I'll ask the dumb question....Is there any chance of there being some type of powder charge inside?

[rgecy]

I would have to definately say it is some type of canister shot. You mentioned your wreck was around 1860 and that would certainly tie into the Civil war period artillery. No one is saying the Civil War came to AU, but they certainly had the armament of the day.

The size of the round (canister) would certainly be dependant on the calibur gun it was fired from. A little research into your wreck may tell you some of this information and you could cross check the size of the canister to the canons that were carried on the ship. You may have a very nice piece of history and it is worth documenting.

Be careful, as Brad said, it could still be live!

Good Luck,

Robert in SC