Feb 26 find. possible heavy shell frag from Civil War. need help on id.

[danimal03]

greetings, went hunting today on private property in an area associated with Civil War shelling activity in SE Virginia. I found this heavy iron hunk and there was nothing else around, not even modern trash. it weighs between 10-15lbs. it looks tapered with part of the powder charge inside. it is heavily rusted and will need to be conserved if it is part of a shell. confirmation and as to what type of shell it went to is greatly appreciated. if it is part of a shell, I believe it would have come from Union gunboats.

 

[lost hunter]

 

[d2]

Maybe it is a piece of a mortar shell...d2

 

[CC Hunter]

Danimal,

That is a big chunk of iron!

I'm thinking maybe a section of nose from a really big Parrott Shell, like a 100 lb. or bigger. The tapered thickness and curve does not seem to match up with what we usually see from large mortar shell fragments from the Civil War.

TheCannoballGuy is our best resident expert in areas of antique military ordinance. I will look forward to seeing his consensus regarding this find.

CC Hunter

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Quindy sent me a heads-up about this object, because he knows my hangout at TN is the What-Is-It forum. I almost never look at the Today's Finds forum.

This iron object is so heavily "cocooned" by rust-&-dirt-concretion that all I can say is it does kinda-sorta resemble a fragment of a large-caliber civil war artillery projectile, such as a 6.4"-caliber (a.k.a. "100-pounder") Parrott shell. For certainty about it, I'd need to see several photos of it without the blobby rust-&-dirt cocoon.

 

[danimal03]

thanks for the replies all. I appreciate the feedback and info and I appreciate any potential future comments as well. thank you.