Cannonball fragment??

[DetectorMoe]

I never dig one before, but could this be a cannonball fragment?? I dug some 3-ringers and few musket balls as well.. There were some civil war battles in the area..

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

DetectorMoe asked:
> I never dig one before, but could this be a cannonball fragment?

No, it is definitely NOT a cannonball fragment... because it is not from a ball/sphere. It is a fragment from a civil war "cylindrical" artillery shell, fired from a rifled cannonbarrel instead of a smoothbore cannon (which fired round projectiles).

I'd need to see it after you clean the rust-encrustation off of it to give you the specific identification of its type, and whether it is yankee-made or Confederate. At the moment, it looks most like it is from the front half of a yankee 3"-caliber Hotchkiss Common-shell or yankee 3" Schenkl Percussion shell. Very-very few Schenkls got used in North Carolina, so Hotchkiss would be much more likely.

But as I said, for certainty in identification I need to see it after you knock as much of the rust-encrustation off as you can. Gentle taps with a hammer are sufficient... not bashing with all your strength.

 

[DetectorMoe]

DetectorMoe asked:
> I never dig one before, but could this be a cannonball fragment?

No, it is definitely NOT a cannonball fragment... because it is not from a ball/sphere. It is a fragment from a civil war "cylindrical" artillery shell, fired from a rifled cannonbarrel instead of a smoothbore cannon (which fired round projectiles).

I'd need to see it after you clean the rust-encrustation off of it to give you the specific identification of its type, and whether it is yankee-made or Confederate. At the moment, it looks most like it is from the front half of a yankee 3"-caliber Hotchkiss Common-shell or yankee 3" Schenkl Percussion shell. Very-very few Schenkls got used in North Carolina, so Hotchkiss would be much more likely.

But as I said, for certainty in identification I need to see it after you knock as much of the rust-encrustation off as you can. Gentle taps with a hammer are sufficient... not bashing with all your strength.

Alright, See what I can do to it.. The civil war battles were Ft fisher about, close to 10 miles, and Ft Anderson/old Brunswick town about 5 miles away... There were battles all over up the Cape fear river up to Wilmington..