Bruce R wrote:
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Well, normally I wouldn’t, but at the time Cannonballguy was out sick, and since I really didn’t get an absolute ID, I was hoping that he’d weigh in this time around.
Seems my phone is ringing. Actually, I'm still "out sick" most days, but... Okay, Bruce, "here ya go."
You reported the ball's VERY-PRECISE (thank you for that) measurements to be 18.31 pounds and diameter is "a hair over 5 inches." Those specifications match up with a civil war era (not Colonial) 18-Pounder (5.3") caliber cannonball. I've said specifically civil war era because 18-Pounder cannons date back well into the Colonial era. However, at that time, ALL cannon balls were a bit smaller in diameter (and thus, also lighter weight) than they were in the mid-1800s. The weight of your ball being 18.31 pounds (about 8 lb. 5 oz.) matches up exactly with the civil war era weight specifications, given here:
Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns
Bruce R also wrote:
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I was just looking at this thing again with a glass and there's a small hole with what appears to be a broken # 12 bolt in it, is that significant?
A bit more specific answer here than what you've already been told:
The small hole with screw-threading in it is most likely for "mounting" your cannonball, either on a war-relics collector's-display, or on a monument, or as a gate-weight. I talk about that in the following answer.
Bruce R also wrote:
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From what I’ve been researching the 18 pounder was a French and British naval gun, I found it in a scrap yard in Mt.Carmel Pa. so them buggers really had some range, huh ?
Regarding your finding it "
in a scrap yard in Mt.Carmel Pa." -- as I mentioned, it is a civil war era cannonball. But at the time of the civil war, the 18-Pounder cannon was considered obsolete. Most in America had been removed from service, but a few were still located in old forts. The Confederates grabbed and used a few of those due to their desperate need for any type of cannons until more of the "state of the art" ones could be manufactured. After the war ended, thousands of 18-Pounder cannonballs were left over. The US Army sold most of them for scrap, or to "War Surplus" dealers like Bannerman, or donated the obsolete balls for monuments. Your ball is almost certainly one of the latter, because does not look like it is an excavated (dug up) specimen but it surface DOES look like it has spent some length of time out in the weather... either on a monument or as a gate-weight.
Your research is 50% correct. Unlike Britain, France did not have 18-Pounder caliber cannons. The French equivalent was a 16-Pounder.
I said "equivalent" because in actuality, the French 16-Pounder cannonball and the British 18-Pounder weighed almost the same. The cannon's "Pounder" designation comes from the weight (in pounds) of the Solid-Shot cannonball which that size of cannon fired. Interestingly, the French "pound" weight (called Pons de Paris, I think) was about 10% heavier than the British "pound" weight. So, the French 16-Pounder cannonball weighed about 17.6 British (and US) pounds.
this thing is solid.
I vote yes.
