🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Purchased this thought to be a cannon ball?

[Rambo01]

Purchased this, I was told it was a cannon ball? Its 8" across and weighs 64 pounds, on my bathroom scale. Does have a small hole that only goes about 1/8 to 1/4" deep. Thought it to be a Civil War solid shot? Can use some help in identifying it? View attachment 2013600View attachment 2013600View attachment 2013665

 

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[ANTIQUARIAN]

That's one heck of a large cannonball, I'm thinking that it's more likely to be a chandelier weight.

These large iron balls had a loop attached to the top which was attached to a rope and pulley system which was used to raise and lower chandeliers for lighting and cleaning.

 

[creskol]

I hope you didn't pay too much for that.🥲

 

[CaptEsteban]

The hole is hexagon shaped, too ??

 

[Rambo01]

There is no hole into it, it only goes about 1/8 to 1/4" at best? (Someone could have tried to drill it to see if it was solid?)
I weighed it this morning and it is 65 pounds, 8" across, and 27 1/4" in diameter. It said on the tag it was a solid mortar round. I thought it was a cannon ball because it is solid with no holes going inside, just a surface hole?

 

[pepperj]

Cannonballguy should be able to answer this for you.

 

[Rambo01]

Thanks, I hope so. 👍😁

 

[Rambo01]

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

We cannonball collectors rely on the US Ordnance Manual of 1861, which contains very-precise data on the prescribed weight and diameter of cannonballs used in America from the Revolutionary war through the civil war.
www.civilwarartilelry.com/shottables.htm
The Manual's "Shot Tables" charts say an 8-inch caliber Solid-Shot cannonball was 7.88 inches in diameter and it weighed 65 pounds.

Rambo01, your ball's weight is exactly the specified weight for an 8-inch caliber Solid cannonball. But your report of its diameter is 8.67-inches, which doesn't match up with an 8"-caliber cannonball. Your photos of the ball show no rust-dirt concretion on the ball, so I'll assume your measurement was not "artificially increased by concretion. Please re-measure the ball's diameter,

While we wait for that info...
The hole looks to be 6-sided, not octagonal (8-sided). Long ago, I knew a guy here in Virginia who drilled civil war shells for deactivation, and after flushing out the shell's powder-cavity, he plugged the hole. Your ball is a Solid, so it would not need to be deactivated. But that guy also put a drillhole in Solid cannonballs, for good electrical contact for the Electrolysis rust-removal process.

In summary:
Your ball's weight is correct for an 8"-caliber cannonball. But it must also match up with the specified diameter (7.88-inches). I look forward to seeing the result of re-measuring.

 

[Rambo01]

I used a piece of twine and measured around the center of it as best as I could, and it came out to 27 3/8. I divied that by 3.14 and it came out to 8.71815286624?

 

[Gare]

We cannonball collectors rely on the US Ordnance Manual of 1861, which contains very-precise data on the prescribed weight and diameter of cannonballs used in America from the Revolutionary war through the civil war.
www.civilwarartilelry.com/shottables.htm
The Manual's "Shot Tables" charts say an 8-inch caliber Solid-Shot cannonball was 7.88 inches in diameter and it weighed 65 pounds.

Rambo01, your ball's weight is exactly the specified weight for an 8-inch caliber Solid cannonball. But your report of its diameter is 8.67-inches, which doesn't match up with an 8"-caliber cannonball. Your photos of the ball show no rust-dirt concretion on the ball, so I'll assume your measurement was not "artificially increased by concretion. Please re-measure the ball's diameter,

While we wait for that info...
The hole looks to be 6-sided, not octagonal (8-sided). Long ago, I knew a guy here in Virginia who drilled civil war shells for deactivation, and after flushing out the shell's powder-cavity, he plugged the hole. Your ball is a Solid, so it would not need to be deactivated. But that guy also put a drillhole in Solid cannonballs, for good electrical contact for the Electrolysis rust-removal process.

In summary:
Your ball's weight is correct for an 8"-caliber cannonball. But it must also match up with the specified diameter (7.88-inches). I look forward to seeing the result of re-measuring.

Where could a person get one of these manuals ?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Gare asked:
> Where could a person get one of these manuals ?

Well, actually, you don't need to buy the 1861 US Ordnance Manual. I gave you the link to a website which shows all the "Shot Tables" charts in the 1861 Manual for the precise diameter & weight of all the cannonballs, grapeshot balls, and canister-ammo balls. Here's the link again.
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

You can buy modern reprints of many civil war era US Military publications online, from sellers of "Historical" books. Just do a google-search for the title.

Thanks for providing the additional measurement info I requested. It creates a conundrum which may disqualify your iron ball from being a cannonball.

Explanation:
You report your ball's weight as being 65 pounds. As I said above, 65 pounds is what an 8"-caliber Solid Shot cannonball weighs. But now you're reported its precisely measured diameter as being 8.718-inches. That size, combined with weighing 65 pounds, means your ball is hollow, not solid. But the only hole in it is far too small to be a fuzehole. Another disqualifying factor is, the nearest cannonball to the diameter and weight of yours is 9"-caliber... but yours is not an exact match. The 9"-caliber weighs 70 pounds (yours is 65) and is 8.87-inches in diameter (yours is 8.718).