cannon ball ?

[pro778]

Can you take a look at this and tell me what you think. Is this a cannon ball?
It weighs around 7 lbs. and is 3 7/8"
Is the circular spot a fuse? Thanks for the help!

 

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[duggap]

If you can clean it up more and if that indent turns out to be a fuse than you are in business, except that it will need to be defused.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Cannonballguy will be able to tell you for certain, but, you will need to clean it up really well and get an accurate measurement of diameter and weight.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Pro778 wrote:
> Is this a cannon ball?
> It weighs around 7 lbs. and is 3 7/8"
> Is the circular spot a fuse?

Thank you for providing accurate measurements of the ball's diameter and weight. There are literally multi-millions of metal balls which were not manufactured to be cannonballs. (For example: ball-bearings, Sports Shot Put balls, Ornamental Ironwork balls, and Stonemilling Industry rock-crusher balls.) So, accurate measurements are crucially necessary for determining whether a metal ball is a cannonball or not. Fortunately for modernday cannonball collectors & relic-diggers, various Historical documents recorded the very-precise size and weight of actual cannonballs used in America from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War. You can view the Historical very precise size-&-weight data (which is called the "Shot Tables") online, for free, at: www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

The cannonball diameter-&-weight data in the Shot Tables charts shows not even a single match-up for you ball's diameter-&-weight, so your ball definitely is not a cannonball.

You asked "Is the circular spot a fuse?" The COMBINATION of your ball's diameter-&-weight (3-&-7/8-inches and 7 pounds) proves beyond any doubt that it is a Solid (not hollow) ball. So, even if your ball was a cannonball, it would be a Solid-Shot, which of course does not have a fuze.

Now about your ball's ID. We'll have to use "the process of elimination." Rock-crusher balls and ball-bearings do not have the circular spot. Your ball is too lightweight to be one of the Sports Shot Put ball Weight-classes (which are very-exactly 8.0 pounds, 10.0, 12.0, and 16.0 pounds). I've seen many Ornamental Ironwork balls -- such as a gatepost-top -- which have a circular hole for the mounting-rod. That rod is sometimes broken off, with the "stub" of it remaining in the hole. It can look very similar to the "circular spot" on your ball. That is the best guess I can make about what your ball is.

 

[pro778]

Thanks cannonballguy!

 

[doublet2a]

WOW,, I learned a lot about cannon balls Good answer cannonballguy

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

You're welcome. The relic-digging community needs to have somebody who is willing to share the Historical data needed for reliably distinguishing actual cannonballs from the multi-millions of metal balls that are not cannonballs. So, that's what I do. I hate to see good people wasting good money on the many rock-crusher balls and Sports Shot Put balls for sale on Ebay as a "genuine civil war cannonball."

You might want to bookmark the US (and Confederate) 1861 Ordnance Manual's "Shot Tables" webpage into your Favorites folder. (Remember, it includes Revolutionary War and War-of-1812, not just Civil War cannonballs, grapeshot-balls, and canister-balls.) www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm