I have found a canon ball with something inside it?

[General_Me]

I found a canon ball while digging in my garden, if I shake it there seems to be something moving about in there.... any thoughts?

 

[Honest Samuel]

Stop shaking it. Call the police.

 

[Fletch88]

Yes a fuse about to go kaboom! Remember Wiley Coyote on bugs bunny?

 

[trapperart]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your find.

 

[birdman]

It could have water that that made it through the plug. Awesome find! The police will take it and have it destroyed.. put it in a bucket of water , do research on disarming and preserving. Lots of YouTube videos out there.

 

[General_Me]

i haven't had any luck finding info on disarming it, I would be quite happy to give that a go, it isnt water as whatever is inside has a distinctly solid feel to it, the fuses are generally wooden I've heard, the only thing I can see from the outside after a little clean is what looks like a lead plug? I suppose it might just be a bit of clean iron showing, thanks for all the comments people

 

[ARC]

Your first picture was taken outside... good.
Second is taken indoors... not so good.

Don't ya think bringing something like that indoors is prolly not the best move / decision you can make until you have determined what in fact you are holding in your hand. ?

No offense. heh

 

[General_Me]

I'm thinking its maybe full of shrapnel and black powder, I'm fine with taking the odd risk, no one else is about downstairs and lets face it black powder is not the most volatile material, my thoughts are the risk is minimal, I will add I'm from the UK, we are quite mad here you know, also the reason I'm searching online and on this site is to try and find out more about it, if i spot anything that looks like a percussion fuse I will quickly change my attitude and thankyou for your concern, I better not mention that at one point I dropped it on the concrete patio, I bravely stuck my foot out to give it a rather painful but soft landing

 

[1637]

well,good luck with that.brad

I'm thinking its maybe full of shrapnel and black powder, I'm fine with taking the odd risk, no one else is about downstairs and lets face it black powder is not the most volatile material, my thoughts are the risk is minimal, I will add I'm from the UK, we are quite mad here you know, also the reason I'm searching online and on this site is to try and find out more about it, if i spot anything that looks like a percussion fuse I will quickly change my attitude and thankyou for your concern, I better not mention that at one point I dropped it on the concrete patio, I bravely stuck my foot out to give it a rather painful but soft landing

 

[General_Me]

lol...yeah tomorrow they will be scraping bits of me off the utility room walls, seriously it is a wonderful object and if I inform the powers that be they will do a controlled explosion on it, which would be a real shame.

 

[Terry Soloman]

What's the story on where you live? What battles took place there?

 

[General_Me]

I live in Deal Kent, which has a huge military history dating back to the roman invasion, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington lived here as lord warden after the battle of waterloo, his death mask and campaign chair can be veiwed at walmer castle and deal castle was frequently lived in by King henry the 8th, here's a bit of the military history of the area if your interested WalmerWeb: Local History - The Royal Marines

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Don't call the police, they will only destroy it. You most likely have a case shotwhich broke free of the matrix. Can you take a picture of the fuse?

 

[General_Me]

I cant find anything that looks like a fuse, having said that I haven't extensively cleaned it, all I can feel is something moving around inside, here are a couple of maybe interesting looking shapes and artefacts I can make out on its exterior, it could have a bore hole for a fuse I'm yet to discover if its from the Napoleonic era, it does appear to be a 6 pndr judging by the general size of it. cant find anything that looks like an American style borman fuse which makes me feel and hope its not a percussion or timed detonator.

 

[woodstock]

As Mad as you are in the UK I'm also a Mad American so I'd find a real high place and toss it as far as I could ... if that doesn't make it go boom then there maybe no boom left ... what is shaking might well be a chunk of rust from moisture getting inside .... Woodstock ( the American Madman )

 

[General_Me]

your my type of guy, maybe I will throw it off the white cliffs of Dover, they will think its just another boring terrorist attack

 

[Terry Soloman]

I want to metal detect your beach!

 

[General_Me]

well if you ever do, pop round and I will make you a nice cup of tea


I want to try my canon ball in one of these and see if it fits

 

[Scrappy]

I'm thinking its maybe full of shrapnel and black powder, I'm fine with taking the odd risk, no one else is about downstairs and lets face it black powder is not the most volatile material, my thoughts are the risk is minimal, I will add I'm from the UK, we are quite mad here you know, also the reason I'm searching online and on this site is to try and find out more about it, if i spot anything that looks like a percussion fuse I will quickly change my attitude and thankyou for your concern, I better not mention that at one point I dropped it on the concrete patio, I bravely stuck my foot out to give it a rather painful but soft landing

I like your style! There are many more boring and less interesting ways to leave this world. Cool digs.

 

[FriscoT06]

That is an awesome find. I hope you find out all you wanna know on it, this is a great site for that!