Season started early for me! Cannonball?

[GerryL]

Normally I can’t MD this early where I live, but this year has been strange. I’ve been pumping my basement for 3 months and the temps are higher than normal. My wife and I have been out a few times finding some old relics, buttons, etc. Today we headed out in the woods, just following stone walls and walking through woods that were probably pasture a couple hundred years ago. We were looking for iron patches to search in the hopes of getting some goodies. Here are some of the good sounding targets from today. We did collect a lot of trash too, from shotgun shells to beer cans that hunters left out there.
Edit to add that we had a bunch of ox shoes and the 3 items on the one in the picture are buttons, not coins. And when we got home to clean out the bell, it still rang! Gotta love it!

 

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[Digger RJ]

Normally I can’t MD this early where I live, but this year has been strange. I’ve been pumping my basement for 3 months and the temps are higher than normal. My wife and I have been out a few times finding some old relics, buttons, etc. Today we headed out in the woods, just following stone walls and walking through woods that were probably pasture a couple hundred years ago. We were looking for iron patches to search in the hopes of getting some goodies. Here are some of the good sounding targets from today. We did collect a lot of trash too, from shotgun shells to beer cans that hunters left out there.
Edit to add that we had a bunch of ox shoes and the 3 items on the one in the picture are buttons, not coins. And when we got home to clean out the bell, it still rang! Gotta love it!

Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!

 

[BennyV]

Cannon ball?

 

[Lenrac2]

I would be happy to find an ox shoe! A bell that still rings is awesome!

 

[GerryL]

Cannon ball?

I was hoping someone noticed that. It appears to be so, but I’m ignorant of this type of object. I have to weigh it and get a diameter, then do some research. It was found in northern Mass, 2-3 mi from the site of a fort constructed in the mid 1700s. I do question what the projections are.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Nice haul !

 

[Silvermonkey]

Looks like a nice bunch of finds GerryL. Weather in Mass sure has been pretty strange this Winter. The ground never really froze here in Eastern Mass ( at least in the woods), which aloud me to keep hunting throughout Jan and Feb.
I would love to hear more about your cannonball. If it turns out to be the " real deal", it would be pretty spectacular!
Congrats!

 

[RatherBeDigging]

Curious what the potential canon ball weights. I'm by no means a Cannon ball expert including in a pool, but I was told the calibers were done by weight in the late 1700s. I dug a 6 pounder in Pennsylvania almost a year ago. Think there was a 4, 6 and 8 ?

 

[BennyV]

I was hoping someone noticed that. It appears to be so, but I’m ignorant of this type of object. I have to weigh it and get a diameter, then do some research. It was found in northern Mass, 2-3 mi from the site of a fort constructed in the mid 1700s. I do question what the projections are.

Share those dimensions and weights. Maybe cannonball guy can help. Is there anything else in that area besides the fort?

 

[GerryL]

Share those dimensions and weights. Maybe cannonball guy can help. Is there anything else in that area besides the fort?

OK, it weighs 2 pounds, 9.6oz and is 2.75” in diameter. I’m attaching some better photos of the mold line, what I think is the sprue mark, and the strange protrusions (is that just rust building up?). The first info that I am looking for is that if this a cannonball, confirmation that is indeed solid and not an explosive type. As I mentioned earlier, I am not knowledgeable in this area; I don’t see anything like a fuse that I see in YouTube videos. I’ll also attach a photo of the rock structure that was about 6’ away. It seems like it could have been for protection. This was high up on a slope just below a ridge with a good long view of the valley below. There is a lot of history in the area; a blacksmith, some mines, mills etc.

 

[BennyV]

OK, it weighs 2 pounds, 9.6oz and is 2.75” in diameter. I’m attaching some better photos of the mold line, what I think is the sprue mark, and the strange protrusions (is that just rust building up?). The first info that I am looking for is that if this a cannonball, confirmation that is indeed solid and not an explosive type. As I mentioned earlier, I am not knowledgeable in this area; I don’t see anything like a fuse that I see in YouTube videos. I’ll also attach a photo of the rock structure that was about 6’ away. It seems like it could have been for protection. This was high up on a slope just below a ridge with a good long view of the valley below. There is a lot of history in the area; a blacksmith, some mines, mills etc.

What kind of mills? Maybe a mill ball.

 

[GerryL]

What kind of mills? Maybe a mill ball.

Grain and lumber as far as I know. I'll do more research. But for this to end up on a high ridge when the mills were way down on the river below sounds unlikely to me at first guess. We'll see. There is a cannon in town; I'll have to go measure the bore.

 

[oldmxrat]

Neat stuff, love the bell, congrats!
Can't wait to hear more about the big round.

 

[Nathan W]

Nice going!