Not sure? Found a foot deep

[Vizzio]

Can anyone help to identify. I haven't weighed it or anything, but it is very heavy...



Let me know what you all think.

Thanks,

-Randy

 

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[bravowhiskey]

could be a small cannon ball. they came in all sizes. Was there any battle activity thereabouts?

 

[DoranHashemi]

Looks like a cannonball. Did you dig that in Montana??

 

[DoranHashemi]

2 in across? Hmmm grapeshot?

 

[uncoveringthepast]

Looks like a grapeshot.

 

[Bryanhashemi]

could be a top to a fence post? Is there a hole anywhere on it? if there is then its probably top to a fence post. If its solid then it could be a grapeshot

 

[SgtSki in MI]

How about a ball from a ball mill? (used to crush ore-bearing rock after it has been ran through a stamp mill)...that's my guess anyway! Good Luck!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Grapeshot was for Naval use, consisting of nine 2-inch-or-larger balls to smash the mast and rigging of an enemy ship. (You don't need balls that large to kill a person.)

Grapeshot's land-use equivalent was called Canister. It typically contained 27 (or more) "smaller" balls, to mow down waves of enemy infantry. Canister was like shotgun-ammo for a cannon. Grapeshot is anti-ship ammo. So, actual Grapeshot would not have been used in Montana.

If you want to solidly identify your iron ball, you'll need to super-precisely measure its diameter (in hundredths-of-an-inch), and also weigh it on a Postal Shipping precision scale, in tenths-of-an-ounce. Then compare its exact diamter and weight with the data on the artillery-balls charts here: www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

The "Shot Tables" data-charts at that website cover every size of artillery ball from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War (including Confederate ones).

If there's no EXACT match for your iron ball's precision-measured diameter and weight in those charts, your ball is not an artillery ball. Good luck to you. I hope for your sake that your find is an artillery ball. Those historical-data charts will tell you with certainty, yes or no.

If there's no match-up, your iron ball is most probably an ore-crusher "mill-ball" (used in the Mining-&-Stonemilling industry), as SgtSki metnioned. Lots of ore-mining has been done in Montana.

 

[Theakiki]

My Dad repaired huge stamping presses at Ford.
He used to bring me ball bearings of that size that I'd play with.

 

[woodstock]

I agree with Theakiki on the large ball bearing theory . I have seen them and also played with them when I was a kid . The small one's we called steely's when we played marbles and now and then someone would bring out a huge one and one that size was banned from being used . So I think it's a very large industrial bearing .. IMHO , Woodstock

 

[Vizzio]

No holes... solid and very heavy. There were battles with Indians on the valley floor that I found it in. Yes it was in Montana, near the 1860s town of Hell Gate. There is also an old fort a mile across the valley. Thanks for the replies guys. I'm very interested to find out what it is and how it got there. I thought maybe ball bearing, but there would have to be one HUGE machine around here that would use that size. Any ideas what would use it if it were one?

-Randy

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

As I mentioned in my prior reply, balls that size (and larger) were used in Mining-&-Smelting industry ore-crushing machines (called a Tumbler-Mill). See illustration below. Thus they are known as Mill-Balls.

Please do the rustcrust-removal for precise measuring and weighing. Use the Shot Tables charts to look for a precise size-&-weight matchup.

Another clue:
From the latter-1800s through the present-day, almost all Mill-Balls (and all ball-bearings) are made of Steel ...which is a heavier alloy of iron than the simple cast-iron used for cannonballs, grapeshot, canister, etc. Steel weighs about 9% more than simple cast-iron. So, a 2.04-inch cast iron artillery canister ball weighs 1 pound 2 ounces. A steel ball which is the very same size will weigh 9% more... about 1 pound 3.5 ounces.

Here's a descriptive cutawy-view image of a Tumbler-Mill, using the mill-balls.