Cannonball

[tigerwitha88]

Just picked this up from a man that dug it out from under his porch about a year ago. It's approx. 5 inches in diameter and very heavy for its size, say around 15lbs at least. It has a core like a apple with two plugs on each side, one looks as old as the ball itself and the other looks like concrete maybe?
About 1/3 of it was exposed(the grey part) and the rest was underground. I thought the concrete looking matter on one end was likely from dewat but thinking of the mans story gives me the thought it may be live?
Any thoughts from those that may know what I have?
Thanks in advance.

 

[IrishEddie]

I wonder why the lifting ears on both sides of the fuse hole were filled in? These lifting ears usually served as a means for lifting the cannon ball into a mortar. A wood fuse would have gone in the fuse hole. How deep is the fuse hole? Are you sure the diameter of the cannon ball is not closer to 8 inches? It looks kind of like a smoothbore mortar.

Eddie

 

[tigerwitha88]

Sorry but I should have been more precise in the specs as I was giving it a close guess just examining it in hand. I don't have a caliper but as close as I can determine with a ruler its 4.5 inches and using a bathroom scale it shows as 12.2lbs.
I can't tell how deep the fuse hole is as its filled with something that looks like concrete on one end and a old cap on the other, but the two are exact opposite giving me the feeling a hole went all the way through the cannonball.

 

[PCGeorge]

I don't see any "lifting ears" (tong-slots, etc) in any of the five photos. Am I missing something that other people see?

Tigerwithan88, thank you for providing the much-needed precise weight and diameter of the ball. According to the Shot Tables in the civil war Ordnance Manual, this ball's weight and diameter are almost exacly correct for it to be a 12-pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball. But of course, Solid-Shots have no fuzehole.

And, even filling a hollow iron ball completely full with concrete would not make it weigh just as much as a same-diameter Solid iron ball.

Both of the "apparent" holes in this ball appear to be too small to be a cannonball's fuzehole. The very smallest known fuzehole on a 12-pounder caliber cannonball was 7/8-inch in diameter. What is the diameter of the apparent holes on this ball? Are the two holes 180-degrees apart from each other? (Meaning, on perfectly opposite sides of the ball from each other.)

So, although this ball's diameter and weight do match up with a 12-pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball, the two holes on it very strongly indicate this ball is an Ornamental Ironwork ball ...such as a Gatepost-Top.

That having been said...
A fellow poster in this forum named Nemo and I co-authored an extensive Educational article on how to know for certain whether or not a metal ball is actually a cannonball. Please do some further research and testing on this ball after reading the article, and let us know the result. The article can be viewed on the internet, for free, at:
SolidShotEssentialsMod

Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]

 

[AAREN9]

One of my friends refer me to this nice forum and I really enjoyed it

 

[AAREN9]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us

 

[AAREN9]

Okie, let me try this

 

[michael H]

authentic cannon ball???

I have a few photos i would like for you to check out for me if u dont mind. They are of a solid shot im assuming with absolutely no holes bored in it, i just found it buried in my yard in south Georgia a few days ago. I havent had a chance to weigh it but i would bet its close to 15 pounds. Im really not sure if its a cannon ball or maybe used for something else but as far as i can tell it is made of cast iron and perfectly round. I did a little research and there is no documents showing Sherman marching through this part of Georgia on his march to Savannah. One thing i did do was take it up to the local historic museum and they absolutely loved it and truely thought it was authentic which excited me, they also noted to me if it was original it would be the only cannonball ball found in this county in Georgia. Im going to get the exact deminsions and weight soon , sorry i dont have them already.

 

[PCGeorge]

In the photos, the item does appear to be a "True Sphere" (meaning, it is perfectly spherical) ...not out-of-round like non-cannonballs tend to be. But we can't get too excited just yet. Sports Shot Put balls are perfectly spherical -- and there is such a thing as a 16-pound Shot Put.

Please get the most precise diameter measurement and weight measurement you can. Home Depot sells a Stanlet Diameter-Tape (specifically made for measuring the diameter of cylindrical and spherical objects) for just a few bucks. Bathroom scales are notoriously inaccurate. You'll need to use a precision weighing-scale, such as Postal Shipping scale. Some US post-offices have that kind of scale available for public use in the lobby. Then we'll see if your ball matches up with any Solid Shot cannonball in the 1861 Ordnance Manual.

Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]

 

[Shun Polock]

A cannonball is round shot ammunition for a cannon.
By analogy, cannonball is also the name or nickname of:
A diving technique in swimming; unlike competitive diving techniques, however, its purpose is to maximize, rather than minimize, splash on water entry.