Cannon Ball Question

[Jon A.]

I purchased a cannon ball from an antique shop about 20 years ago but I'm not really sure what type it is. Can someone help me? It is solid, about 3" across and heavy, about 4 -5 lbs.

Can someone give me an idea what type cannon ball this is? Or is it a cannon ball after all?

Thanks for any help.

Jon

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

As you probably already know, the general public believes that if an iron ball is old-looking, it must be a cannonball from the Civil War or Revolutionary War. But, Sports Shot-Put balls, counterweight balls, Ornamental Ironwork balls, stonecrusher balls, and ball-bearings, etc. also get old and rusty. Fortunately for us cannonball collectors, there ARE ways to determine with certainty whether or not an iron ball is a cannonball or one of the non-military types of iron balls.

The shadow along one side of the ball makes determining its actual shape difficult. But even discounting the shadow, the ball appears to be somewhat out-of-round ...meaning, a bit egg-shaped. All actual cannonballs were very carefully manufactured to be a "True Sphere." That's because an out-of-round cannonball can jam in the cannon's barrel during loading or firing (even causing the cannon itself to burst violently), which is very bad news for the cannon's crew. One of an army Ordnance Inspector's duties was to use a "Ring Gauge" to check absolutely every cannonball to make sure it was perfectly spherical.

If the ball is indeed out-of-round, it is not a cannonball ...it is a stonecrusher ball from the Mining-&-Stonemilling industry.

If the ball is perfectly round, it may be a cannonball ...but it could also be one of several other types of round iron-or-steel balls which have nothing to do with artiillery. You will need super-precise measurements of the ball's exact diameter and weight. For the diameter, you'll need either Calipers or a Diameter-Tape. For the weight, you'll need to use a Postal Shipping scale, because typical household bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate.

When you provide those exact measurements, we will see if they match up with any of the Solid-Shot (not hollow explosive shell) cannonball sizes and weights here: www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

 

[Jon A.]

I was hoping I'd hear from you, CannonballGuy. Sounds like I've got more homework to do. Thanks for your insight.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I was going to post the following link for Mackaydon, because he "Liked" my educational post, and might want to see more of that. But since you've mentioned "homework to do," the instructions (and photos) will be helpful for you. SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[Jon A.]

Hello again. I did some homework on the cannon ball. I went to the postoffice and asked them to weigh the cannonball (I have friends there.) They tell me the ball weighs 3 lbs. 13.8 oz. I've studied the ball from all different angles and can say it's pretty close to being perfectly round. I don't have a caliper (or know where to get one) but I measured it again and came out with 3" or close to it.

In studying the charts that Cannonballguy gave me I believe it is a 3 lb. ball. I'm not clear on what type gun would shoot this gun however.

Well, I hope this gives a better idea of what type ball it is. And if it is a cannonball, what type gun would shoot it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Jon A. wrote:
> And if it is a cannonball, what type gun would shoot it?

Here's some basic information, to answer your question, for anybody else here who doesn't already know:
Cannonballs were for use in Muzzle-Loading cannons. Muzzle-loading means the ammunition was loaded into the front end of the barrel, which is called the muzzle.

You'll notice that the Ordnance Department's cannonball size-specifications (www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables) are extremely precise ...the ball diameters are specified in hundredths-of-an-inch. (Examples are 1.95-inches, 2.84-inches, 3.12-inches, etc.) You may be wondering why the diameter size-specification is THAT precise. The answer is, a cannonball MUST fit fairly tightly/snugly inside the cannon's bore (the long tunnel inside the barrel is called the "bore"). If the ball is even 5 hundredths-of-an-inch smaller than it should be, a significant amount of the cannon's firing-blast will escape through the gap between the ball and the cannon's bore, and that causes the ball to not shoot as far as it is supposed to go. If the cannonball fits in the cannon's bore too loosely, it will "fall short" when fired, and you will never be able to hit the target you are aiming at. Therefore, ALL cannonballs were carefully manufactured to be the VERY-EXACT diameter-size specified (such as 2.84" or 3.12", or 4.52", etc) for the cannon they were to be used in.

A cannonball's VERY-EXACT weight is just as important as its size. That is why the Ordnance Department specified a very-exact weight (such as 3.05 pounds, 4.07 pounds, 12.25 pounds, etc). If some of the balls for your cannon weigh even a few ounces less than others, they won't shoot the same distance as the others ...and again you're going to have a lot of trouble hitting the target you are aiming at.

Jon A. also wrote:
> They tell me the ball weighs 3 lbs. 13.8 oz.

First, two sidenotes:
1- The "pounder" designation (3-Pounder, 6-Pounder, 9-Pounder, etc) of a cannon's caliber is the weight of a Solid Shot projectile for that particular caliber of cannon.
2- Solid Shot means the projectile is solid through-and-through, not a hollow-bodied explosive projectile (which known as a Shell).

Checking the cannonball diameter-&-weight chart at www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm for the "closest match" to your ball... it is too heavy to be a "3-pounder caliber" cannonball (2.84" diameter, 3.05 pounds) ...and too light to be a "4-pounder caliber" cannonball (3.12" diameter, 4.07 pounds). Note, there are no cannonballs in between those sizes. So, the outlook isn't good for your ball being a cannonball.

That being said... sometimes, air bubbles accidentally got trapped inside the molten iron when the cannonball was being cast. Those "casting flaw" air bubbles inside a cannonball can cause it to be a FEW ounces lighter than the manufacturer intended it to be. Your ball is only 3 ounces lighter than a 4-pounder caliber cannonball ...so, MAYBE it is a 4-pounder with casting-flaw air bubbles inside it.

Fortunately, there is a way to find out with CERTAINTY whether it is or isn't a "flawed" 4-pounder caliber cannonball. As mentioned above, a 4-pounder caliber cannonball is specified to be 3.12-inches in diameter. Please buy or borrow a set of Digital Calipers (which measure in hundredths-of-an-inch) to check your ball's very-exact diameter. If your 3-pound 14-ounce ball measures within two hundredths of 3.12-inches (3.10 to 3.14-inches), it is a "flawed" 4-pounder caliber cannonball. If it isn't between 3.10 and 3.14-inches, it is not a cannonball.

Sidenote:
Fortunately, in the 21st-Century, the price of Digital Calipers has become very inexpensive. You can buy them for less than $20 at Home Depot, or Harbor Freight Tools, or online at Ebay. They are worth that small amount of money for a relic-digger or collector to own ...because Digital Calipers are also useful for precisely measuring the size of bullets, coins, buckles, and buttons. Take this advice, please... knowing the very-exact size can be hugely important for correctly identifying those kinds of relics -- not just cannonballs.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Update:
The ball's owner, Jon A., sent a very nice thank-you message for my information about cannonballs, and saying he is going to buy Digital Calipers to precisely measure the ball, which will tell us whether it is really a cannonball or not. But Jon sent the message as a TreasureNet "Visitor Message" ...and there's no option to Reply to visitor messages. So I'll post my answer here. You're welcome, Jon, and I'll look forward to your upcoming post with the ball's exact size-measurement. For whatever it''s worth to hear, I hope it does turn out to be a cannonball.