Civil war ball or bearing? Found near battlegrounds.

[smitty010203]

Brother in law found this at his Ouse in Fredericksburg Va actually near the old battlefields. I know one of you guys will know if it's something special or not. 11mm .. 28 grams. Is this an old musket ball or a ball bearing . I figured the weight and the size should be a dead giveaway for someone in here. Also on my AT Pro this rings up a solid 30.

 

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[FreeBirdTim]

Well, 11mm works out to 0.433071 of an inch, so that might make it a .44 caliber ball. But it seems like 28 grams is kind of heavy for a .44 musket ball. Is the ball magnetic? If it's magnetic, it's not made of lead and not a musket ball. Any sprue mark on it?

I've found a few musket balls, but none of them were perfectly round. They all have sprue marks on them from the mold they were made from.

 

[smitty010203]

The ball is in fact magnetic...

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

You miss-reported the ball's measurement. Your photos show it is very slightly smaller than 19mm (.75-inch), not 11mm.

In a follow-up post (below), you say that the ball is magnetic.... so, it is an iron or steel ball.

There was no civil war (or earlier) iron/steel artillery ball which was 19mm/.75"-diameter. Therefore, the ball is a civilian-usage ball, such as a ball-bearing.

 

[smitty010203]

The response is muh appreciated from both of you. Unfortunately I do not have a jewelers scale for a grain measurement however I did check the scale used with a nickle which showed 5 grams. Also. For some reason the scale indicates the 28 gram ball to also be .98 oz. at this point it really doesn't look like a musket ball at all but still leaves me curious to know what it is. It would be a pretty big ball bearing.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Since you've added that the ball is magnetic, and it weighs .98-ounce, I re-checked your photo showing it between the calipers jaws. I now realize that I miss-read the measurement, because my calipers are different from yours. The ball's diameter is actually a hair less than 19mm (.75-inch). Therefore, I've edited my previous post to take the new information into account. There were no .75-inch iron artillery balls or musketballs in the civil war era or earlier, so it is a civilian-usage ball, such as a ball-bearing.

 

[nathan104]

That's too small to be grapeshot from a cannon.

 

[QUICKSILVER (appletree)]

looks like ammo for a wrist rocket slingshot

 

[fyrffytr1]

I think Quicksilver has the correct ID. If this chart downloads it will show a 19mm steel ball that weighs 28.01 grams

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

It would be a pretty big ball bearing.

I don't know what they were from, but as a kid I recall 1" steel bearings that some other kids would try and use as shooters. "No Steelies!" was a common call as they would chip the glass marbles.

 

[smitty010203]

Geez seems kinda harsh to be shooting a steel ball at kids with a slingshot.

 

[nathan104]

He was talking about playing marbles.