French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

[birdman]

French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

I love the days the wife tells me to go hunting! I thought I was hearing things.LOL I called my friend that lives in the village that I have been hunting and we hit a new area.We covered alot of ground and each had dug a couple of things . I found two coins but only one was readable. We started to work our way out of the grassy field and I got an iffy signal and started to dig. The more I dug the better the signal got. I started to get spooked because being in Germany there are a lot of unexploded bombs. At about two and a half feet I saw what I knew was iron. I dug very easily around the metal until I saw that it was round and knew it was not WW1 or WW2. I got it out of the hole and after what seemed like forever got up the hill and to the car. It may be a mortor shell and still have powder in it so I am being gentile with it. I have always dreamed of digging a whole cannon ball and now I have . I am on a lucky streak! I also found a musket ball and a pistol ball. The battle was in 1793 so I would hope the powder would be bad. I hope I can manage to get this thing home to the states. Thanks for looking and happy hunting

 

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[civilman1]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

Birdman..when you pcs or ets,just send it home with your personal belonging's(if it's not fused of course).Anyway,great find and good luck with the transport.HH as alway's...

 

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[Leon]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

Definitely an interesting find, WTG!!!
Do be careful, and keep us up to date...
Good luck, & Happy hunting~

 

[Monty]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

Being as heavy as it is, I would bet it's solid. If not, it came from the black powder era. Black powder can be more easily ignited than modern explosives. I'd not use any thing that could cause sparks to clean it. Maybe you can find something made of brass to scrape it? Know any medics who could Xray it for you?

 

[vercingetorix]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

humm .....

birdman ... do you really think you'll be able to go back to the states with a BOMB in your luggages ....?? humm ...

 

[JakePhelps]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

If the police or someone does find it and destroy it you can sue them for destroying a harmless piece of history I would use a brass wire wheel and a dremel on it, jims right, nothing that will spark just in case it isnt solid. I have heard and read that naval jelly is good for preserving iron, been meaning to get some...

 

[birdman]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

I weighed the cannon ball after work.It is 28 pounds and around 7 and a third inches in diameter.I have been doing research and it looks like a 32LB ball with a charge in it. The solid shots were actually 32LB and the powered ones weighed less. I have got alot of different info but it looks like the fuse on a ball that old would have been wooden so there may be a better chance of getting the powder (or mud) out of it. If I can get it cleaned out I will be able to ship it with my house goods no problem.

 

[trk5capt]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

BIRDMAN, Very Well Could Be a Wooden Fuse, Keep us Posted I Still Hope Its Solid, If It Turns Out That It is Loaded I Still Don't think that You Will Have Any Trouble Clearing it Your Self as After all this time the charge has been Compromised. trk5capt... 8)

 

[EDDE]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

well 3 pounds of rust and corrosion may have easly flaked off in the ground or while cleaning it..but your have a better handle on that then us observers!what these guys do here in the states is submerge it in a vat of water and use a brass drill bit to drill a hole in it, brass wont spark. also when you cut threw the "shell"to the powder the water will pour in leaving it harmless then just let it soak over night to soak the rest of the powder then house out the insides of all the powder(power washer).......instant defuse well sort of,give it a shoot!

 

[JakePhelps]

Re: French /Prussian battle site cannon ball

Try to find the hole where the fuse is, maybe you can drill all the rust and crap out of the hole and then get it wet. Gunpowder burns kinda like a fuse when its wet but it still could explode so be carefull. If its a fused one then it maybe more rare then a solid shot Are there any conservators around there that do work on military artifacts?