Another civil war cannon ball!!!!!!

[diggervet]

Walked into the house tonight after a long day and my wife told me to call DV Jr right away. He was across the road hunting the hillside where I found the solid shot the other day. I never expected that he would find ANOTHER 12 lb cannon ball about 50 yards from where I found the first one!!! Its been a long time since he had found something other than shot or dropped bullets so he was way overdue. There was much celebrating in the woods! We'll be back there asap to carefully go over the whole area. Thanks for looking and HH!!

 

[GL]

I want one very badly.
Nowhere to hunt for them legally nearby though.

 

[Tom VT]

Thats cool. Any way to tell if they were fired or just lost?

 

[kimsdad]

Wow!

Great find & superb cleanup! Congrats!!!

 

[USMCLion]

DugGap, I saw your reply about not having to worry about cannonballs that come out of the river and have no fuze. I highly encourage you to re-think that. We recently had an older gentleman near Richman who was diving in the James River to retrieve cannon balls. He took them home to inert them using underwater drilling then a water stream to flush out the powder. He thought he had all the powder out of the ball and started cleaning it up with a wire brush. The spark fell in the hole and detinated the round. The characteristics of blackpowder are kind of funny, wet blackpowder won't ignite, but once its dried its 2 or 3 times more combustable than in its orogonal form. Not to be a downer, but cannon balls are very dangerous when you haven't been trained to handle them. Then folks like myself have to clean up the mess when its all said and done. As a metal detector and Civil War buff it was very hard for me to dispose of the 40 + cannon balls that were left in that garage.

 

[Bowler Man]

That's neat. Thanks for sharing!

 

[diggervet]

Ther have been a lot of questions about these cannon balls and I'm not sure how to do the individual quote responses so I'll try to answer them all now! the other day
These are 12 lb solid shot and so contain no explosives or black powder. Since many/most fuses are brass it doesn't usually rust in that area so you can tell it's not explosive. If it were, I would not try to clean it without first having it defused.
I cleaned them up with a needle scaler, which is an air tool that has a set of steel pins that vibrate rapidly and knock off all the rust and scale,then i hit it lightly with a wire brush and put a light coat of acrylic sealant on it.
went back to the sight the other day, but haven't found anymore,....... yet!
Thanks for looking and HH

 

[duggap]

DugGap, I saw your reply about not having to worry about cannonballs that come out of the river and have no fuze. I highly encourage you to re-think that. We recently had an older gentleman near Richman who was diving in the James River to retrieve cannon balls. He took them home to inert them using underwater drilling then a water stream to flush out the powder. He thought he had all the powder out of the ball and started cleaning it up with a wire brush. The spark fell in the hole and detinated the round. The characteristics of blackpowder are kind of funny, wet blackpowder won't ignite, but once its dried its 2 or 3 times more combustable than in its orogonal form. Not to be a downer, but cannon balls are very dangerous when you haven't been trained to handle them. Then folks like myself have to clean up the mess when its all said and done. As a metal detector and Civil War buff it was very hard for me to dispose of the 40 + cannon balls that were left in that garage.

Thanks for the warning. Actually we found a total of three from the water. The one that was hollow that I recovered had never been armed to begin with. It was totally clean inside to the point that you could feel the ridges on the inside to prove it was Conferedate.

 

[toolman61]

Nice finds! I hope you guys run into it being a camp or something cool like that. And I hope you guys will be safe. HH Tom

 

[windrun]

Wow! I can't believe that you had to pick this cannon ball up and bring it home!

In the past, I see several people found it and bring it home, then what happened, the ball blew as blast and hurt or kill somebody.

Last few months ago, a guy who collect so many cannon balls and a lot of civil war stuff. One day, he found the cannon ball and put it in back of car. He arrived home, then he picked up and carry it to the house. His wife saw him, then cannon ball blew up and killed him on the driveway. That guy had so many years of marriage with his wife and many years of civil war collector, then end of his life.

I recommend if someone saw the cannon ball, just leave it alone and call your local police!

Richard

 

[Falcon]

WOW! What a piece of history 8)

 

[diggervet]

[There is no doubt that the shells which are found have the potential to explode. However, if you are not a total doofus and handle them with care and caution they are not likely to explode. These two are solid iron and are no more dangerous than a big rock. I personally know hunters that have dug dozens if not hundreds of shells and not a single one has exploded. I would never attempt to disarm one myself but wouldn't hesitate to hand them over to an experienced person for deactivation]
Wow! I can't believe that you had to pick this cannon ball up and bring it home!

In the past, I see several people found it and bring it home, then what happened, the ball blew as blast and hurt or kill somebody.

Last few months ago, a guy who collect so many cannon balls and a lot of civil war stuff. One day, he found the cannon ball and put it in back of car. He arrived home, then he picked up and carry it to the house. His wife saw him, then cannon ball blew up and killed him on the driveway. That guy had so many years of marriage with his wife and many years of civil war collector, then end of his life.

I recommend if someone saw the cannon ball, just leave it alone and call your local police!

Richard


[/quote]