Cannonball or Grenade Fragment?

romeo-1

Gold Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
9,859
Reaction score
7,118
Golden Thread
3
Location
Romeotopia
🥇 Banner finds
3
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Attachments

  • IMG_20170731_1426547.webp
    IMG_20170731_1426547.webp
    555.2 KB · Views: 102
  • IMG_20170731_1427414.webp
    IMG_20170731_1427414.webp
    677.7 KB · Views: 85
  • IMG_20170731_1427066.webp
    IMG_20170731_1427066.webp
    415.8 KB · Views: 74
Looks to me like a 6-pounder caseshot fragment. CBG will certainly be along with a positive identification. Whatever it is, it's a great find. Good job! If it is a frag, there is certainly more around, and if it is caseshot, either lead or iron balls should be around in addition to more frags.
 

Upvote 0
Looks to me like a 6-pounder caseshot fragment. CBG will certainly be along with a positive identification. Whatever it is, it's a great find. Good job! If it is a frag, there is certainly more around, and if it is caseshot, either lead or iron balls should be around in addition to more frags.

Thanks...this site has no shortage of fragments...i've found a couple hundred pounds worth so far. This only has me scratching my head because the wall is much thinner and the diameter less than any other fragment I've found.
 

Upvote 0
Well I could be wrong. The CBG will be along. But I think it's thin walls is because it is a caseshot and not a common shell fragment.
 

Upvote 0
Need you to use a caliper or whatever else can give an extremely precise measurement of the shellwall's thickness. In the photos, the thickness seems to vary. If so, that means crude casting, the cavity unintentionally being cast off-center. That would indicate the frag is from a 6-Pounder shell, or possibly a 4-Pounder. You'd need to do some historical research to see whether or not any 6-Pounder or 4-Pounder cannons got used at that battlesite.

You can make a template to check the frag's diameter. The diameter of a 6-Pounder ball is about 3.58-inches. The diameter of a 4-Pounder cannonball is about 3.12-inches. Use a compass to make a pencil (or ink) circle which is the desired diameter (3.58") on a piece of thick cardboard. Then use a razor knife to cut out the inside of the circle. Carefully place the fragment's outer curve against the edge of the round hole in the cardboard. If it fits fairly neatly into the hole's curve, the frag is from a 6-Pounder shell. If not, cut a 3.12-inch hole in the cardboard. Of course, you'll need to remove the rust-&-dirt encrustation off the outside of the frag to be able to do this "arc test."

By the way... you're right, pre-20th-Century grenades that were round-bodied did tend to have a thinner shellwall than cannon roundshells of the same size.

Your mention of finding Bar-Shot at that site indicates it is a Colonial/RevWar/War-of-1812 battlesite. If so, that would exclude the presence of Case-Shot shells, because those didn't exist until Briton Sir Henry Shrapnel invented that type of artillery ammunition a year or so after the end of combat in the American Revolution.
 

Last edited:
Upvote 0
CBG...the site is definitely colonial and most likely pre-Rev War. The thickness of the shell wall does vary. I've got it soaking in apple cider vinegar right now to remove the crust.
 

Upvote 0
CBG...the site is definitely colonial and most likely pre-Rev War. The thickness of the shell wall does vary. I've got it soaking in apple cider vinegar right now to remove the crust.

Please post a pic when you're done!
 

Upvote 0
Please post a pic when you're done!

Here you go...after 6 weeks in the apple cider vinegar. It's got some interesting details showing...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170924_1436377.webp
    IMG_20170924_1436377.webp
    468.8 KB · Views: 71
  • IMG_20170924_1436269.webp
    IMG_20170924_1436269.webp
    497.6 KB · Views: 76
  • IMG_20170924_1436524.webp
    IMG_20170924_1436524.webp
    549 KB · Views: 119
Upvote 0
DAMN WHAT A FIND
 

Upvote 0

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom