Bocephus99, thank you for providing the very important info that the photo-posting distorted the shape of the balls, making them look out-of-round when they actually aren't. Being out-of-round would've made me have to say they are not cannonballs. As you may already know, cannonballs HAD to be perfectly round, because being out-of-round (like a potato or a grape) could cause the ball the jam in the cannon's bore during loading or firing, which was very bad news for the cannon's crew.
Your statement that the smaller ball weighs 1.2 pounds indicates you used a precision-weighing scale, such as a Postal Shipping scale, which is crucially needed for determining whether or not a metal ball is actually a cannon ball. (Typical household bathroom weighing-scales are notoriously inaccurate.) As you also may already know, we cannonball collectors use the US (and CSA) 1861 Ordnance Manual's very-precise size and weight charts about Artillery balls to determine whether a metal ball is an Artillery ball or not.
Cannon bore, shot, and shell diameters for smoothbore guns
Based on your statement that the smaller ball is 1.95-inches in diameter and weighs 1.2 pounds, it is not a cannon ball. The Ordnance Manual says (in the data about 1-Pounder cannonballs) that a 1.95" iron ball should weigh exactly 1 pound, not 1.2 pounds. Being about 3 ounces too heavy for its size means it is made of steel, which is a heavier metal than simple cast-iron. No artillery balls made of steel are known to have been used in America. (All the ones used here were made of cast-iron, except for a few copperbrass ones the Mexicans used in the Mexican-American War.) Being made of steel, that ball is most probably a Mining-&-Stonemilling Industry rock-pulverizer ball, known as a Mill-Ball.
You say the larger ball is 3.6-inches in diameter, and weighs 6 pounds (presumably, 6.0-pounds). Those measurements match up VERY nearly exactly with the Ordnance Manual's size and weight specifications for a 6-Pounder caliber Solid-Shot cannonball (3.58-inches, 6.1 pounds). So, I believe that ball is indeed an actual cannonball.
For any reader here who needs the information: David Poche and I co-authored an Educational article about how to determine with CERTAINTY whether or not a metal ball is an Artillery ball (cannon ball, Grapeshot ball, or Canister-ammo ball) -- or a Civilian-usage ball (such as a ball-bearing, a Sports Shot-Put ball, or a Mill-Ball, etc). The article includes detailed instructions, and helpful photos. To read it, go here:
SolidShotEssentialsMod
. Added for weight from dad or granddads collection I'm sure.
It weighs 1.2 lbs and is 1.95 inches in diameter. Thanks in advance!
