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?

 

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[asrussell96]

Chances are its inert.__but maybe not...You can submerge it in water and if you can locate where the fuse was you can drill in slowly....Replacing the water if necessary...

 

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[General_Me]

I'm gonna stick it in a bucket of water and investigate, let you guys know what I discover

 

[Carolina Tom]

Well played sir! I like your attitude.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Hope to hear back from ya.

 

[WHADIFIND]

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

Well....I'm a bit taken aback by your attitude, sir. But, allowing for your "Brit-ness", would seem understandable, even a bit appropriate. I would suggest you might would take a 20 pound sledge and give it a solid whack! BUT....you might bloody well do so!

I'll await your final determination....or read your obit.
Bit of alright, the find, the cavalier attitude toward possible dangerous situation....not so much.
At least let it sit 'til after tea.

 

[General_Me]

I'm not as cavalier as I might sound, to be honest most people ( not here obviously) don't realise the gas bottle for their camping stove is more volatile than a 200+ year old canon ball, I have heard people saying black powder turns to Nitro gliserine, or the charge becomes unstable over time, the truth is black powder is a pretty consistently useless slow burning ignition source and is made up of a pretty simple mix of chemicals, also it really does need either a detonator or ignition source to go off, lets face it from new it was designed to be fired out of a bloody canon and not explode, I cant seriously see any kind of timed or percussion detonator on this canon ball, so at the moment I'm having to assume it has nothing more than a bore hole somewhere, still haven't got round to the clean up yet as I've been working.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I'm not as cavalier as I might sound, to be honest most people ( not here obviously) don't realise the gas bottle for their camping stove is more volatile than a 200+ year old canon ball, I have heard people saying black powder turns to Nitro gliserine, or the charge becomes unstable over time, the truth is black powder is a pretty consistently useless slow burning ignition source and is made up of a pretty simple mix of chemicals, also it really does need either a detonator or ignition source to go off, lets face it from new it was designed to be fired out of a bloody canon and not explode, I cant seriously see any kind of timed or percussion detonator on this canon ball, so at the moment I'm having to assume it has nothing more than a bore hole somewhere, still haven't got round to the clean up yet as I've been working.

Well said! An extremely knowledgeable relic hunter here in the States, Aquachigger (youtube) has a video doing the exact same comparison you just mentioned between a coleman propane canister and a cannonball! I live in an area where the probability of finding an American Civil War era shell is pretty good, so before that day comes, I took the time to educate myself on the dangers, or lack there of, of this sort of thing. If I ever see one at the bottom of my plug, I will now know to treat it like a propane canister you buy at Walmart... which means don't throw it in a fire or drill a hole in it and you'll be just fine. ha

I hope your's turns out to be a cannonball after all. Great find if so.

 

[Bob-E-Pin]

Message "aquachigger", and ask him about it. Homeguard Dan who replied to you earlier knows a lot as well try to get him the best pics possible. Hopefully "Cannonball Guy" will see this thread as well. You came to the right place. In my opinion for what it's worth, you should just put it in some water and wait for more information. I know holding it and shaking it is fun and it will probably end up right next to your bed on the end table tonight, but have patience my friend. Congrats on a cool find!!!

 

[General_Me]

its already living in a bucket of water at the moment, while I clean it up a bit

 

[DaleinFL]

Please keep us all updated on whats inside
Thanks - Dale

 

[birdman]

Cannon ball guy helped with mine several years ago. It turned out awesome.

 

[General_Me]

how can I get in contact with him?

 

[AU Seeker]

how can I get in contact with him?

Sent him a PM and invite him into this thread/topic, here's a link to his profile page.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/members/3270.html

 

[smokeythecat]

I've heard black powder becomes unstable with age, breaking down into nitroglycerin. So.....don't microwave it, Don't put it in the oven. Do not bang on it. Try sitting it outside in a bucket of water
for a few weeks and see if the fuse hole becomes evident. There are people around who can defuse them. Don't know where in the UK though. DO NOT SHIP IT ANYWHERE.

 

[Aquila]

be careful with that. i have had live ammunitions in my house.

 

[AU Seeker]

I've heard black powder becomes unstable with age, breaking down into nitroglycerin......

This comment has been stated numerous times even by some bomb experts, but here's a quote from some research on old/civil war era black powder, it appears that if stored in a dry enviroment black powder as well as many other pyrotecnics stays relatively stable and if store in a wet enviroment these compounds do deteriorate but tend become more stable to a point of becoming possibly inert.

http://www.jpyro.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Kos-806-806.pdf


"....The physical appearance, physical properties and performance of the Civil War Black Powder are all consistent with there having been very little or no change in this sample over the preceding 140 years. That is to say, for this sample of Black Powder it is fairly obvious that it has remained stable and shows no sign of having deteriorated.This is fully consistent with what would be expected for a pyrotechnic composition stored under reasonably dry conditions. One reason for reporting these results for this very old Black Powder sample is that too often bomb technicians seem to be of the opinion that all explosives (including properly stored pyrotechniccompositions) deteriorate and become increasingly unstable with age. While most pyrotechnic compositions, when stored under excessively damp conditions, do potentially deteriorate, very few types of pyrotechnic composition become more unstable than they were originally....."


"....One reason for reporting these results for this very old Black Powder sample is that too often bomb technicians seem to be of the opinion that all explosives (including properly stored pyrotechnic compositions) deteriorate and become increasingly unstable with age. While most pyrotechnic compositions, when stored under excessively damp conditions, do potentially deteriorate, very few types of pyrotechnic composition become more unstable than they were originally. Almost always, deteriorated pyrotechnic compositions become more stable, possibly even to the point of being essentially inert. That is not to say,when one does not know the nature of a pyrotechnic composition showing signs of having deteriorated, that one should not use added precaution in render-safe and disposal operations....."

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I've heard black powder becomes unstable with age, breaking down into nitroglycerin. So.....don't microwave it, Don't put it in the oven. Do not bang on it. Try sitting it outside in a bucket of water
for a few weeks and see if the fuse hole becomes evident. There are people around who can defuse them. Don't know where in the UK though. DO NOT SHIP IT ANYWHERE.

No.... it doesn't nitro and black powder have nothing chemically in common

 

[NOLA_Ken]

If there is no fuse hole, it's not an explosive shell, period.... no fuse = solid shot, so if it were a cannon ball it could not have anything rattling around inside because it would not be hollow. I wonder if it's not one of those Asian meditation ball things that have a bell in them, with all of the enamel knocked off...

 

[A2coins]

Somebody was got lucky that thing didn't go off way back then that is a cool find. could be a cool lamp base!!!lol Thanks for sharing your find be careful!!!