Found another first for me yesterday, a rare hand grenade from the Revolutionary War!

[Devonrex]

Yesterday I found what I thought was another 4 pound solid shot from the Rev War. After a quick overnight bath in my deluxe jacuzzi electroylsis accomodations, I saw where my solid shot actually had a small vent opening. When I turned the ball over black water poured out of this hole....... I can remember saying what the heck! Upon inserting a small wooden toothpick I saw where the hole went into the middle of the shell but no further. Honestly at first I thought the casting of the iron might have had some imperfections but this hole was smack dab in the epicenter of the ball. A quick look into Collectors Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution and I had my answer on page 131. Described as "A small hollow iron ball 2 1/2 " to 3 inches in diameter filled with gunpowder which was lighted and thrown by hand , or at times by a small mortar. The small hole held a fuse which projected down to its center". Unbelievable! I never realized until today hand grenades were used in our American Revolution!!! From what I've been told this is a mighty rare ball to find. Devonrex

 

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[Red James Cash]

They actually date back much further than the revolution.

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Great Balls of Fire ,, a colonial grenade WHAT ! ! That's beyond koolness l , your well on your way to starting your own Colonial Museum

 

[Michiganne]

Very cool relic. Nice save on that one!

HH

 

[Valley Ranger]

Excellent!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

That is a very nice find and rare. Like RedJamesCash stated they go back quite a ways, we have got them of a ship from the 1700s. They are fragile so be careful not to drop it. If you found it around the salt water you may want to keep it in the electrolysis bath for at least 2-3 months or you could end up with a pile of dust to display.
Great job find it, I hope you can find a few more.
ZDD
one more thing, make sure you get that Black Powder all out.

 

[gsxraddict]

interested in selling?

 

[ticm]

Has a object like this ever made the banner? I mean they throw rings and such up there.

 

[Beercanman]

It's like a cartoon bomb. Love it.

 

[doolittle]

Great find!!!!!

 

[Elad]

Nice!! Never heard of such a thing.

 

[Lanny in AB]

That's a genuine, awesome find!! Nicely done.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[nsdq]

kaboom goes the red coats,,,, sweet find

 

[FriscoT06]

Great find! Congratulations!

 

[BuckleBoy]

This is really a fantastic and scarce find to make. I think it'd look great on the finds banner.

Congrats,


Buck

 

[Devonrex]

That is a very nice find and rare. Like RedJamesCash stated they go back quite a ways, we have got them of a ship from the 1700s. They are fragile so be careful not to drop it. If you found it around the salt water you may want to keep it in the electrolysis bath for at least 2-3 months or you could end up with a pile of dust to display.
Great job find it, I hope you can find a few more.
ZDD
one more thing, make sure you get that Black Powder all out.

What is scary is the fact I drilled into this ball and just before that I was knocking of some of the concretion formed around it with a hammer. I never thought in a million years this ball would have a hollow chamber filled with gunpowder. The inner chamber is small too so the ball still has considerable weight. Most hollow balls have a central chamber uniform in diameter throughout the ball so you can feel the weight difference right away. Not so here. The toothick goes in about 1 and 1/2 inches to the center of the ball and then stops. The top half of the ball is hollowed out and was filled with powder. I did get fooled........but honestly I really didn't even realize grenades were used in the Rev War. I forgot to mention I found this at one of my French sites. The French were instrumental in helping defeat the British at Yorktown in October of 1781. In particular in overtaking Redoubt #9. I can picture a French soldier going up to the bastions of this redoubt, lighting one of these grenades and tossing it in. I have no doubt they were used for this. From what I've been told placing a live ball in an electrolysis bath is relatively safe. Once the fuse hole is open one should then thoroughly flush all the powder out. My problem is I can't tell exactly how large this cavity is because it doesn't apear to be uniform...... or if there are separate chambers. Devonrex

 

[MrSchulz]

What is scary is the fact I drilled into this ball and just before that I was knocking of some of the concretion formed around it with a hammer. I never thought in a million years this ball would have a hollow chamber filled with gunpowder. The inner chamber is small too so the ball still has considerable weight. Most hollow balls have a central chamber uniform in diameter throughout the ball so you can feel the weight difference right away. Not so here. The toothick goes in about 1 and 1/2 inches to the center of the ball and then stops. The top half of the ball is hollowed out and was filled with powder. I did get fooled........but honestly I really didn't even realize grenades were used in the Rev War. I forgot to mention I found this at one of my French sites. The French were instrumental in helping defeat the British at Yorktown in October of 1781. In particular in overtaking Redoubt #9. I can picture a French soldier going up to the bastions of this redoubt, lighting one of these grenades and tossing it in. I have no doubt they were used for this. From what I've been told placing a live ball in an electrolysis bath is relatively safe. Once the fuse hole is open one should then thoroughly flush all the powder out. My problem is I can't tell exactly how large this cavity is because it doesn't apear to be uniform...... or if there are separate chambers. Devonrex

Thank god it didn't spark when you were drilling. 4th of July might of came a little early this year.