Cannon ball or shot put ?

[Bruce R]

Approximately 5 inches in diameter, 18 lbs. on the bathroom scale. Definitely cast iron, found it at the scrap yard today. this thing is solid.

 

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[Bonzododa71]

It meets all the parameters for and 18 lbdr...I have dug a few from 1812 and they still weigh 18lbs probably less if I remove the rust....HH....Bonz

 

[Rookster]

Definitely maybe a cannon ball.Congrats. I vote yes.

 

[Bruce R]

Is it worth anything ? I don’t collect cannon balls, in fact I can’t imagine anyone who would, but maybe I could trade it for a nice lodge sword or two at the next Forks of the Delaware gun show ?

 

[flyadive]

Cannonball guys page.....
http://www.pochefamily.org/books/SolidShotEssentialsMod.html

 

[Bruce R]

I was just looking at this thing again with a glass and theres a small hole with what appears to be a broken # 12 bolt in it, is that significant ?

 

[Bruce R]

Here’s the mold vent sprue and the filler sprue

 

[A2coins]

I bit was a pain to lug back home but worth it!!!!!!!

 

[Bruce R]

From what I’ve been researching the 18 pounder was a French and British naval gun, I found it in a scrap yard in Mt.Carmel Pa. so them buggers really had some range, huh ?

 

[Raider19962]

One other possibility - it could be a ball used in rock crushing, although it seems a bit large for it. I have an American made 3 pounder ball from the defense of Lewes, Delaware during the War of 1812, and it is very similar except for that hole you identified. That could maybe be from a casting mold, maybe?

 

[Bruce R]

I was looking at an identification site on the web and seen another with the hole, they said it was common for someone to mount them on a wooden display base. The hole didn’t have a broken bolt in it after all, just a piece of gravel, the hole is threaded 12x24, a real uncommon size these days.

 

[Hillbilly Prince]

Cannonball guys page.....
SolidShotEssentialsMod

Great info. I got an old iron ball around here. This will help a lot.

 

[smokeythecat]

It is very possible the broken screw was where someone subjected it to electrolysis. A "clean" area needs to be made so there is metal to metal contact so the rust is removed.

 

[Bruce R]

Well, I’m gonna stick a chunk of walnut in my lathe an buzz out a display base for it so I can stick it in my living room an listen to my wife gripe about it.

 

[flyadive]

Great info. I got an old iron ball around here. This will help a lot.

Here is another page for you Hillbilly from The Cannonballguy....

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

 

[Bruce R]

Here is another page for you Hillbilly from The Cannonballguy....

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

Well I took it across the street to Postage Plus and it weighs exactly 18.311, and measures just a hair over 5 in with my calipers and a ruler. Guess its a cannonball.

 

[Bruce R]

I’m wondering if this will bump up

 

[Thebigd81]

Why necro a 2+ year old post ��

 

[Bruce R]

Well, normally I wouldn’t, but at the time Cannonballguy was out sick, and since I really didn’t get an absolute ID, I was hoping that he’d weigh in this time around.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Bruce R wrote:
> Well, normally I wouldn’t, but at the time Cannonballguy was out sick, and since I really didn’t get an absolute ID, I was hoping that he’d weigh in this time around.

Seems my phone is ringing. Actually, I'm still "out sick" most days, but... Okay, Bruce, "here ya go."

You reported the ball's VERY-PRECISE (thank you for that) measurements to be 18.31 pounds and diameter is "a hair over 5 inches." Those specifications match up with a civil war era (not Colonial) 18-Pounder (5.3") caliber cannonball. I've said specifically civil war era because 18-Pounder cannons date back well into the Colonial era. However, at that time, ALL cannon balls were a bit smaller in diameter (and thus, also lighter weight) than they were in the mid-1800s. The weight of your ball being 18.31 pounds (about 8 lb. 5 oz.) matches up exactly with the civil war era weight specifications, given here:
Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns

Bruce R also wrote:
> I was just looking at this thing again with a glass and there's a small hole with what appears to be a broken # 12 bolt in it, is that significant?

A bit more specific answer here than what you've already been told:
The small hole with screw-threading in it is most likely for "mounting" your cannonball, either on a war-relics collector's-display, or on a monument, or as a gate-weight. I talk about that in the following answer.

Bruce R also wrote:
> From what I’ve been researching the 18 pounder was a French and British naval gun, I found it in a scrap yard in Mt.Carmel Pa. so them buggers really had some range, huh ?

Regarding your finding it "in a scrap yard in Mt.Carmel Pa." -- as I mentioned, it is a civil war era cannonball. But at the time of the civil war, the 18-Pounder cannon was considered obsolete. Most in America had been removed from service, but a few were still located in old forts. The Confederates grabbed and used a few of those due to their desperate need for any type of cannons until more of the "state of the art" ones could be manufactured. After the war ended, thousands of 18-Pounder cannonballs were left over. The US Army sold most of them for scrap, or to "War Surplus" dealers like Bannerman, or donated the obsolete balls for monuments. Your ball is almost certainly one of the latter, because does not look like it is an excavated (dug up) specimen but it surface DOES look like it has spent some length of time out in the weather... either on a monument or as a gate-weight.

Your research is 50% correct. Unlike Britain, France did not have 18-Pounder caliber cannons. The French equivalent was a 16-Pounder.

I said "equivalent" because in actuality, the French 16-Pounder cannonball and the British 18-Pounder weighed almost the same. The cannon's "Pounder" designation comes from the weight (in pounds) of the Solid-Shot cannonball which that size of cannon fired. Interestingly, the French "pound" weight (called Pons de Paris, I think) was about 10% heavier than the British "pound" weight. So, the French 16-Pounder cannonball weighed about 17.6 British (and US) pounds.