Cannonball?

[Crhodes94]

I found this today while out in the woods of Eastern North Carolina. I found it buried in the ground with about 1/4 of it sticking out of the ground, I cleaned the rust off that was cacked on about 1/8" thick on it with a light wire brush to check for any identifying marks but there wasn't any. It's solid iron, weights 15lbs and is 4 1/2" in diameter, it seems to large and heavy to be grapeshot. If anyone has any idea of if its a real cannonball and potentially how old it could be any information would be helpful.
PS:I didn't take any pictures before i cleaned it to show how rusted it was to show the potential age unfortunately.

 

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[firemanphob]

Cannonballguy will probably chime it on this but you are going to need a good diameter measurement on it to identify it.

 

[Tony in SC]

If it had rust it has to be iron, but the color is throwing me off?

 

[Crhodes94]

If it had rust it has to be iron, but the color is throwing me off?

Thats what i was thinking, maybe it has a brass coating that the rust wore off while it was buried?

 

[ToastedWheatie]

If you dont have calipers handy, take an accurate circumference measurement. CBG will need that when he checks in.
Use a string if you need to, and then measure the string.

 

[Crhodes94]

The circumference is 4.14, sadly had to google how to find that lol
Its also extremely magnetic i took a weak magnet off my fridge and it pulled it about 1/4" apart on a table holding the ball above the magnet and it doesn't fly off the side when i spin it

 

[wainzoid]

The circumference is 4.14, sadly had to google how to find that lol

Even sadder.... I think that is the diameter

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

This ball's reported diameter and weight are not even a "close" match with any caliber of cannonball (or grapeshot ball, etc.) in the historical data records for cannonball sizes used in the US from the Colonial era through the civil war era.
www.civilwararillery.com/shottables.htm

People who want to learn how to tell with CERTAINTY whether a metal ball is an artillery ball or a civilian-usage ball can learn by reading the detailed article I co-wrote, with helpful photos and instructions for measuring.
SolidShotEssentialsMod

 

[Crhodes94]

This ball's reported diameter and weight are not even a "close" match with any caliber of cannonball (or grapeshot ball, etc.) in the historical data records for cannonball sizes used in the US from the Colonial era through the civil war era.
www.civilwararillery.com/shottables.htm

People who want to learn how to tell with CERTAINTY whether a metal ball is an artillery ball or a civilian-usage ball can learn by reading the detailed article I co-wrote, with helpful photos and instructions for measuring.
SolidShotEssentialsMod

I read your article and it was very helpful, thanks.
I did notice that there does seem to be both a mold seam and there is also a spot roughly 90 degrees of that which i believe could be a mold vent sprue but its the opposite of whats in the picture and there is slightly less metal there instead of it poking up. Also i don't have anything other then a tape measure to measure the diameter so i can't get a for sure diameter its as close as i could get and i don't have a digital scale with decimal points only a typical bathroom scale so i cant weight it accurately either. I'll try to get a better picture of what i think could be the seam and the vent sprue.

 

[Crhodes94]

Thank you for that article it was very informative. I did notice that the ball does seem to have a seam that goes perfectly around the ball aswell as what looks like a mold vent sprue. I dont have a digital scale or a better way to measure the diameter so i can't get an accurate measurement on either of those just a rough measurement of both. Ill try to get a better picture of what looks like the seam and vent.

 

[dognose]

Interesting find. And good info on cannonballs
thanks for posting.

 

[Gare]

Could it be a sporting events shot put I think they were 15 and 16 pounds ?

 

[Red-Coat]

Could it be a sporting events shot put I think they were 15 and 16 pounds ?

The standard for an athletic men's shot is for a weight of 7.26 kg (16 pounds) with a diameter of 110–130 mm (4.3–5.1 inches). For women it's 4 kg (8.82 pounds) with a diameter of 95–110 mm (3.7–4.3 inches).

 

[Bruce R]

Mill ball