Is it really a cannonball??

[bobbydceee]

Hi folks, total newb here. Just getting into the field of detecting (finally) and found this while plowing a field recently. We're in South Mississippi (Ellisville) and I know there was a good bit of Civil War activity nearby, so I'm pretty sure it is what I'm hoping it is, but wanted to see if any of you experts could offer some info or how to measure/weigh/check to find out for sure that it's not something else possible. Thanks in advance for any info!

 

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[Carolina Tom]

An accurate weight would be helpful. Does a magnet stick to it? Someone will come along shortly and ID this for you sir.

I suspect that you have some form of projectile.

 

[Icewing]

Here's a good place to start measuring and comparing,but I can tell you, you are going to need a set of calipers, a ruler just won't do.

Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bobbydceee wrote:
> "wanted to see if any of you experts could offer some info or how to measure/weigh/check to find out for sure that it's not something else possible."

Welcome to T-Net's "What Is It?" forum, the best place on the internet to get unknown objects CORRECTLY identified.

I co-wrote an educational article just for folks like you, the finders of a rusty iron ball which might-or-might-not be a cannonball or other Artillery ball (Grapeshot ball, or Canister-ammo ball, etc).
SolidShotEssentialsMod
It has helpful photos and detailed instructions... plus a link to the civil war artillery Shot Tables data charts, which tell you the very-exact (in hundredths-of-an-inch) diameters and weights (in tenths-of-a-pound) for the actual cannonballs, Grapeshot, and Canister-ammo balls used in America from the Revolutionary War through the civil war.

In the photo with a ruler, your ball appears to be smaller than 3.58-inches in diameter, which was the smallest cannonball used in the civil war. So although it can't be a cannonball, it might be a Grapeshot ball. Clean the thick rust-encrustation off, measure the diameter, and weigh it on a precision Postal Shipping scale. Then see whether you've got a match-up in the Grapeshot ball sizes-&-weights at the Shot Tables charts.
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm