Cannonball??

[ccdog]

A friend found this in the woods not too far from my home. The ball is approximately 10" diameter and weighs over 100 lbs. There are 4 small holes drilled around the circumference of the ball. Appreciate your help identifying!

 

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[ccdog]

Huntsman53, please take my word that my inclusion of my Professional Qualifications in my reply was not directed at you... nor anybody else who has posted in this discussion. I included my credentials because I know from experience that there's always going to be some readers who will wonder why they should believe that the information I provide is factually correct. As we all know, anybody can anything they want on the internet -- and often, what an anonymous somebody on the internet says turns out to be factually incorrect. So, I occasionally include my professional credentials to provide Credibility for what I say about artillery projectiles.

You are quite correct that a reasonable amount of caution is always advisable when a finder isn't sure whether an object is a "live" artillery projectile or not. I wrote my previous post to give readers reliable assurance that they don't need to call the Police about a cannonBALL. (And as I said, bullet-shaped artillery projectiles from the 20th-Century are a different matter, because some of that type can still be dangerous to drop.)

Now, answering your questions about this 4-tiny-holes ball:
I applaud you for "doing the math" which proves this ball is a hollow one, not solid all the way through. (As my Solid Shot Essentials article shows, that's a very important part of distinguishing Artillery balls from non-Artillery balls (such as ball-bearings, Sports Shot-Put balls, mining industry Mill-Balls, etc).

As evidence that I really have been studying these 4-tiny-holes steel balls for several decades, here's a photo showing one which cracked open when it fell off the back of a truck onto concrete pavement at a scrapyard.

Some people have theorized that these 4-tiny-holes steel balls are some kind of Incendiary cannonball. But, as I said in my prior post, the fact that NONE of them are the precisely-correct diameter for any caliber of cannon proves beyond doubt that they are not a Artillery ball.

For example, the US Ordnance Manual specifies that 10"-caliber cannonballs had to be precisely 9.87-inches in diameter, in order to correctly fit into the cannon's 10.0"-diameter bore. So, if a ball measures (let's say) 9.79-inches or 9.95 inches in diameter, it wouldn't correctly fit any known cannon, and therefore it is not a cannonball.

The precisely-measured diameter of the broken-open 4-tiny-holes ball in the photo below is 8.72-inches, which excludes it from being a cannonball.

CannonballGuy,

Thank you (and everyone else) for the info and opinions on this ball. The knowledge you guys (and gals) share is awesome and very much appreciated. That's why I love this website and these forums. It appears that this is obviously not a cannonball, so now I'm even more curious. What do y'all think this is? And do you think its from that era?

 

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[mical66]

neat picture of the broken 4 hole 10 inch ball there .
That stem in the center of it looks cool , do you think its there to add strength or stability like a gyroscope ?
you would think some one out has to know what they are and would have spoke up by now , since they have to be man made......or do they ?

 

[taz42o]

neat picture of the broken 4 hole 10 inch ball there .
That stem in the center of it looks cool , do you think its there to add strength or stability like a gyroscope ?
you would think some one out has to know what they are and would have spoke up by now , since they have to be man made......or do they ?

I think that center piece was the support for the center of the mold , to sand cast a hollow sphere you have to have a round ball off sand supported in the center of the other two halves of the mold.

 

[mical66]

I think that center piece was the support for the center of the mold , to sand cast a hollow sphere you have to have a round ball off sand supported in the center of the other two halves of the mold.

sure i can understand that taz, i worked for a year in a factory named doehler jarvis running mold machines for intakes, heads , water pumps, oil pumps brake cylinders ECT,,, but had not thought of it as just being the support for the sand mold, but that would also explain the 4 holes as the feet for the sand cores and a way to extract the sand .

 

[huntsman53]

Thank you (and everyone else) for the info and opinions on this ball. The knowledge you guys (and gals) share is awesome and very much appreciated. That's why I love this website and these forums. It appears that this is obviously not a cannonball, so now I'm even more curious. What do y'all think this is? And do you think its from that era?

A mean a$$ bowling ball sort of like a steel aggie for playing marbles the mean way! LOL!!! I don't know but thought I would throw some humor in to it.


Frank