Revolutionary War Cannon Ball?

[spudnutt]

Can anyone confirm this is a Revolutionary War cannon ball? It weighs 3lbs which I've learned is a common weight for revolutionary war cannon balls. It measures approximately 2 7/8'' in diameter. As you can see in the pictures one side has a circular mark that measures 1/2'' with a smaller circular mark inside that measures 1/8''. The inner circle appears to be of a different material. It was dug in PA in areas of Revolutionary war battles.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Brian C.]

The circle looks like it is lead. Maybe someone found the cannon ball and closed the, I may be wrong, but the primer hole so to speak. I did find a peace of a cannon ball, it was exploded, it has what it looks like a primmer hole, maybe for putting gun powder or shot. Just a guess.

[taz42o]

A shot put. is 3lb. - 71 mm=2.79 inches
A 3-pounder solid shot cannon ball is 72.14 mm = 2.84 inches diameter.
Not much difference between the two but it looks like a shot put to me because a solid shot cannon ball would not have a hole filled with lead.

[TheCannonballGuy]

Taz is right, a 3-pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball would not have a perfectly-circular 1/2"-diameter hole filled with lead.

Also, the fuze-hole on explosive cannonballs was always larger than 1/2-inch.

Also, the photo of the cleaned-up version of the ball shows it has the characteristics of Steel, not Cast-Iron ...and there were never any Steel field artillery caliber cannonballs.

Sorry, Taz, but I cannot find any reference to the existence of 3-pound Sports Shot-Put balls ...except for the Special Olympics, which has only very recently come into existence. In "standard" Olympic and College sports competition, the lightest Shot Put ball is 6 pounds. http://www.trackoutlet.com/index.php/cPath/78

Having eliminated the two major alternative possibilities... in my opinion, this ball is a Counterweight ball. The purpose of the small hole and lead in Counterweight balls is to allow you to add the right amount of lead to make the ball be the extra-precise weight you desire for functioning as a counterweight. (That method was used in the past for getting a Sports Shot Put to be the exact weight required in Sports Competition rules, for example 8.00 pounds, 12.00 pounds, 16.00 pounds, etc. It is why some Shot Put balls are still manufactured with a plugged hole in them.)

[taz42o]

Yes you are right I did not notice that 3 lb. shot put balls were only for special Olympics.