Possible cannonball

zouave114 · Jun 27, 2010

I just moved into a house built in 1875 that belonged at one time to a Civil War Cavalry vet. I found what looks like a cannonball in the cellar. It weighs about 16 lbs, and is 15-3/4 diameter.

Jeff

ProPointer · Jun 27, 2010

I know nothing about the civil war, so I'm not saying anything to sound stupid. Cool Beans!

Iron Patch · Jun 27, 2010

Check this.

ANSWER: Hi Kim,

It does appear to be a cannon ball. Given the weight, it may be a hollow one that could still contain black powder and thus it could be quite dangerous. DO NOT PUT IT INTO A FIRE, Throw it, hit it with a hammer etc....

Does it have a plug, either brass, bronze or steel? it would be round, perhaps 1 inch in diameter and conforming to the shape of the ball? If so, this is the fuse! Does it have any numbers, letters or symbols struck into the metal? this could be on t he fuse as well.

The ball is from the civil war time period and was probably cast in one of the steel mills in northern Indiana. I would donate it to the local historical museum, just to get the thing out of the house!

You CAN NOT sell it, you CAN NOT ship it, It is illegal to ship munitions. Since it may still have black powder in it, it is considered hazardous. Do not send the kids to school with it as show and tell.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Archaeology-654/2010/3/cannonball-4.htm

Iron Patch · Jun 27, 2010

I believe your other pic is the fuse. Take the above reply very seriously.

Woodland Detectors · Jun 27, 2010

Iron Patch said:
Check this.

ANSWER: Hi Kim,

It does appear to be a cannon ball. Given the weight, it may be a hollow one that could still contain black powder and thus it could be quite dangerous. DO NOT PUT IT INTO A FIRE, Throw it, hit it with a hammer etc....

Does it have a plug, either brass, bronze or steel? it would be round, perhaps 1 inch in diameter and conforming to the shape of the ball? If so, this is the fuse! Does it have any numbers, letters or symbols struck into the metal? this could be on t he fuse as well.

The ball is from the civil war time period and was probably cast in one of the steel mills in northern Indiana. I would donate it to the local historical museum, just to get the thing out of the house!

You CAN NOT sell it, you CAN NOT ship it, It is illegal to ship munitions. Since it may still have black powder in it, it is considered hazardous. Do not send the kids to school with it as show and tell.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Archaeology-654/2010/3/cannonball-4.htm

Excellent advise and thread

vayank54 · Jun 27, 2010

It looks like it is a cannon ball. I'm surely not an expert but neither pic looks like any fuse I have ever seen. the one with the flat plug in it might be a hole where it was loaded with power and shot. The other I don't know about. It's possible the ball was unloaded and the fuse replace with a plug years ago. Loaded shells are generally safe to handle but I would take IP's advice and be careful. There are dealers who will buy loaded shells. you could also have it x-rayed to see if it is loaded.

Iron Patch · Jun 27, 2010

vayank54 said:
It looks like it is a cannon ball. I'm surely not an expert but neither pic looks like any fuse I have ever seen. the one with the flat plug in it might be a hole where it was loaded with power and shot. The other I don't know about. It's possible the ball was unloaded and the fuse replace with a plug years ago. Loaded shells are generally safe to handle but I would take IP's advice and be careful. There are dealers who will buy loaded shells. you could also have it x-rayed to see if it is loaded.

I wouldn't know a CW fuse if it hit me in the head, but emailing that picture to the right person will tell the story. Hopefully the ball was already taken care of!

PChammer · Jun 27, 2010

Iron Patch said:
Check this.

ANSWER: Hi Kim,

It does appear to be a cannon ball. Given the weight, it may be a hollow one that could still contain black powder and thus it could be quite dangerous. DO NOT PUT IT INTO A FIRE, Throw it, hit it with a hammer etc....

Does it have a plug, either brass, bronze or steel? it would be round, perhaps 1 inch in diameter and conforming to the shape of the ball? If so, this is the fuse! Does it have any numbers, letters or symbols struck into the metal? this could be on t he fuse as well.

The ball is from the civil war time period and was probably cast in one of the steel mills in northern Indiana. I would donate it to the local historical museum, just to get the thing out of the house!

You CAN NOT sell it, you CAN NOT ship it, It is illegal to ship munitions. Since it may still have black powder in it, it is considered hazardous. Do not send the kids to school with it as show and tell.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Archaeology-654/2010/3/cannonball-4.htm

I have no comment on the cannon ball, but your reply should be pinned somewhere because that's excellent advice. Unless I haven't seen it and it is pinned, then nm. But yes, that is quite the eye opener, I honestly wouldn't have thought about the shipping and selling immediately. Great advice! :icon_thumleft:

wizzo86 · Jun 27, 2010

the middle picture looks to me to be what's left of a drill bit that someone tried to drill a hole the shell. Just my 2 cents.... But good advice is to tread as if it is still live and therefore lethal!!!!

Iron Patch · Jun 27, 2010

PChammer said:
Iron Patch said:

Check this.

ANSWER: Hi Kim,

It does appear to be a cannon ball. Given the weight, it may be a hollow one that could still contain black powder and thus it could be quite dangerous. DO NOT PUT IT INTO A FIRE, Throw it, hit it with a hammer etc....

Does it have a plug, either brass, bronze or steel? it would be round, perhaps 1 inch in diameter and conforming to the shape of the ball? If so, this is the fuse! Does it have any numbers, letters or symbols struck into the metal? this could be on t he fuse as well.

The ball is from the civil war time period and was probably cast in one of the steel mills in northern Indiana. I would donate it to the local historical museum, just to get the thing out of the house!

You CAN NOT sell it, you CAN NOT ship it, It is illegal to ship munitions. Since it may still have black powder in it, it is considered hazardous. Do not send the kids to school with it as show and tell.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Archaeology-654/2010/3/cannonball-4.htm

Click to expand...

I have no comment on the cannon ball, but your reply should be pinned somewhere because that's excellent advice. Unless I haven't seen it and it is pinned, then nm. But yes, that is quite the eye opener, I honestly wouldn't have thought about the shipping and selling immediately. Great advice!

If it's still loaded there's only a few options... keep it at your own risk, get an expert to come get it to defuse, or call the authorities and they'll destroy it. Personally I like my cannonballs but something like that I would get rid of. Glad all mine are solid shot!

Iron Patch · Jun 27, 2010

wizzo86 said:
the middle picture looks to me to be what's left of a drill bit that someone tried to drill a hole the shell. Just my 2 cents.... But good advice is to tread as if it is still live and therefore lethal!!!!

Yes, might have been drilled under water, failed breaking the bit, and left as is.

gxray · Jun 27, 2010

I am almost certain this is not a cannonball. The largest cannonballs during the Civil war were 13 inch diameter mortar balls. Usually fired from mortars mounted on ships, railroad cars or fortress emplacements. There appears to be holes on both sides of the ball and neither looks like a typical artillery fuse or underplug. My guess is this may be some sort of counterweight similar to that used on a crane hook or some sort of scale. Another possibility could be an ornamental ball like that from a fence post or gated entrance.

PChammer · Jun 27, 2010

gxray said:
I am almost certain this is not a cannonball. The largest cannonballs during the Civil war were 13 inch diameter mortar balls. Usually fired from mortars mounted on ships, railroad cars or fortress emplacements. There appears to be holes on both sides of the ball and neither looks like a typical artillery fuse or underplug. My guess is this may be some sort of counterweight similar to that used on a crane hook or some sort of scale. Another possibility could be an ornamental ball like that from a fence post or gated entrance.

Is it possible the measurements are wrong? Not to insult zouave114 or anything but it can happen, I would suggest a re-measure BUT after what Iron Patch said, and just now reading how a life long hobby of a guy caused his death as a cannon ball blew up in his face, safe to say, take Iron Patch's advice!

The fuse looks like an impact fuse, when it hits, boom! Here's a link and safer than looking at the ball..

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/

Paul

fyrffytr1 · Jun 27, 2010

I think he may have meant circumference instead of diameter. A 16 pounder is about 16" in circumference. Or, he could have made a typo and it should be 5 3/4" diameter which would also be in the range of a 16 pounder.
I got this info by "googling" 16 pound cannonballs.

OldNBroken · Jun 27, 2010

well, 5" in diameter = 15.75" in circumference. I believe that's the measurement he was giving.

zouave114 · Jun 27, 2010

Yes, I did goof on the measurement. The circumference is 15-3/4, making the diameter 5".

Jeff Rodriguez

KYBuzzBox · Jun 28, 2010

Like Iron Patch said....don't take a risk! If you live near any military reservation you can turn it into their EOD unit. Some units will drill them, render them inert, and return them to you. Some city police department EOD units will also render them inert for you. There are also some relic dealers who will either buy them from you or will drill them for you for a charge. Old gun powder is really unstable this nothing to have in your home. I carry a five gallon paint bucket with a lid as part of my hunting equipment for just this reason. When we find old shells or balls we put them in bucket, fill it with water, and then take them to our local EOD unit. That ball looks like the borman fuze has been punched. If that is part of a drill bit in it...it could be an accident waiting to happen....