ITS A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Ronin9868 · May 31, 2007

IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Hi everyone,

Got to hunt a little today after work and found a live 12 pound Bormann fuse Civil War cannonball. You can imagine the tone my detector set off on this bad boy. This one will be going out tomorrow to be decommissioned. I have a friend that has the equipment to inert them. they do so by drilling a hole in the side and flushing out all the powder. By next Friday I should have all my shells back and will photograph and post them for TN. Thanks for looking.

Hh- Ronin9868

Dman · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Great find

reskinsrock · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Amazing, any idea of which battle or fight it was from?
k.k.

CarolinaDigs · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Fantastic find Ronin

Ronin9868 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

reskinsrock said:
Amazing, any idea of which battle or fight it was from?
k.k.

It's from the May 5th 1862 Battle of Williamsburg, VA. This is my 2nd 12lb one from that battle. :P

mark43 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

nice find...my brother lived there in 1991 and went to visit him on my honeymoon.....they were excavating different sites at the time....had the white tarps up so u couldnt see what they might be digging.....he used to work at the treasle restaurant..or however u spell it right in the main part of williamsburg...is the place still there do u know? think its near a golf course..not sure long time ago for me to remember. met alot of famous people there he told me.....mark43

DANGLANGLEY · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Very nice find. Great pics too...Good luck and don't be the last victim of the Civil War!...

DANGLANGLEY

LuisTH · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Interesting. Glad it didn't explode as you were digging it out.

hollowpointred · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

wow!!!! i wonder if 140 year old powder that has been buried still poses a hazard? id hate to find out the hard way!!! its a great find! congrats!!

Ronin9868 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

hollowpointred said:
wow!!!! i wonder if 140 year old powder that has been buried still poses a hazard? id hate to find out the hard way!!! its a great find! congrats!!

Better safe then sorry. I have 4 others being worked on now. Ill be picking them up and dropping this off. It only costs $25 per shell. See metal detectors are making the world a safer place.

nhbenz · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Well done (on making the world a safer place

) and nice find!

jmo784 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

This is my first post and I have to say what a great find. I am also a military explosive ordnance disposal specialist and I feel compelled to get the word out about old ordnance. That old black powder filled cannon ball is just as, if not more, dangerous as the day it was made. Black powder tends to degrade over time and when exposed to water and then dried out it becomes dangerously unstable. Just be safe with those old things and if in doubt leave it alone! Again, a great find and a true piece of American History.

Ronin9868 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

mark43 said:
nice find...my brother lived there in 1991 and went to visit him on my honeymoon.....they were excavating different sites at the time....had the white tarps up so u couldnt see what they might be digging.....he used to work at the treasle restaurant..or however u spell it right in the main part of williamsburg...is the place still there do u know? think its near a golf course..not sure long time ago for me to remember. met alot of famous people there he told me.....mark43

Hey Mark, Yep, the Trellis is still in Merchant square. I very trendy and popular restaurant. We do get allot of celeberties in town being it's Williamsburg and Jamestown. The Queen of England was here a few weeks ago.

Not a bad place to vacation. Bucsh Gardens Rocks!

Ronin9868 · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

jmo784 said:
This is my first post and I have to say what a great find. I am also a military explosive ordnance disposal specialist and I feel compelled to get the word out about old ordnance. That old black powder filled cannon ball is just as, if not more, dangerous as the day it was made. Black powder tends to degrade over time and when exposed to water and then dried out it becomes dangerously unstable. Just be safe with those old things and if in doubt leave it alone! Again, a great find and a true piece of American History.

You absolutely right about this. I don't believe in chancing anything when it comes to explosive devices. After they are made inert they are awesome collectibles. this is my 13th to date. (Some solid shot and not a hazard). When I get them all back ill be posting them as they will be on display. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

Slabman · May 31, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Ronin9868 said:
jmo784 said:

This is my first post and I have to say what a great find. I am also a military explosive ordnance disposal specialist and I feel compelled to get the word out about old ordnance. That old black powder filled cannon ball is just as, if not more, dangerous as the day it was made. Black powder tends to degrade over time and when exposed to water and then dried out it becomes dangerously unstable. Just be safe with those old things and if in doubt leave it alone! Again, a great find and a true piece of American History.

Click to expand...

You absolutely right about this. I don't believe in chancing anything when it comes to explosive devices. After they are made inert they are awesome collectibles. this is my 13th to date. (Some solid shot and not a hazard). When I get them all back ill be posting them as they will be on display. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

On one of my trips to the old Fort Sedgewick site here in Colorado, I found
a few full shell, Spencer and Henry drops. One of them was bent a bit, and I tried
to straighten it out a bit, and it cracked open, and the powder ran out onto
the table. I put the powder in a bottle cap, and lit a match to it, and it burned
just as well as it would have in the 1860's or 70's. So... be careful!! Nice find!!!

HH Slabman

DIGGITALL · Jun 1, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

THAT POWDER DOES PRESENT A DANGER IT HAPPENED TO A FELLOW IN GA LAST YEAR ONE BLEW UP WHILE HE WAS DEFUSING IT AND MY MD CLUB HAS A FELLOW THAT DOES DISARM THEM . HE SAID KEEP IT IN WATER DO NOT LET IT DRY OUT OR EXPOSE TO ANY HEAT UNTILL IT CAN BE DEFUSED THE FELLOW IN GA IS IN SEROIUS CONDITION NOW AND THE MILITARY CAME AND TOOK ALL HIS COLLECTION AND DESTROYED THEM .JUST BE CAREFULL

RUDY2003 · Jun 1, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Man that is way COOL. I'd love to find one someday...
Keep safe....

Nana40 · Jun 1, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Dang, Ron!

That thing makes me nervous! :P Please take care!!!

Awesome find, though!!! Nana

Ronin9868 · Jun 1, 2007

Re: IT'S A BOOMER!!!!!!!!1

Nana40 said:
Dang, Ron! That thing makes me nervous! :P Please take care!!!

Awesome find, though!!! Nana

Well the bad boy is away to be decommissiond. I should have them all back by next Friday. Ill be sure to post and also show how they were disarmed. Here is a photo of the others I have not recieved back yet. The open shell is a display of what actually is inside the Bormann.