etrac help on cannon balls/shot

[3RINGER]

Went door knocking and found a farm in wartrace TN. After talking to the farmer I found out that he and his dad sold the logs from a bldg that was on the property.

As I spoke to the man who was now in his late 70's my thoughts went crazy when he said that he remembers that (US CAV) was burned into a log.

He also said that his dad would make him and his brothers pull cannon balls out of the field and throw them along the fence row and how they used 3ringers in home made sling shots as a kid.

---- Here is my Question. Has anyone found any cannon balls or shot with the etrac? What do they come in as or what should I be looking for or listening for.
plan on going tomorrow afternoon.

Thanx for any help...HH all

 

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[Mach1Pilot]

I've yet to find a CW era cannon ball or shot with the Etrac, but have found several French and Indian war ball fragments with the Etrac. In both cases the reading was 24-38... the frags were 6-8" deep and in both cases I was using the Sunray X5. BedfordBob said a frag he dug the other day sounded the same.... I think he was using the pro coil that day?

Hope that helps and good luck.

Oh, If you need help searching that site I'd be happy to help you!

 

[3RINGER]

Thanks for the info. Bedford County TN line will be within spittin distance from this farm. HH and thanks again.

 

[Dano Sverige]

I'm guessing (depending on depth) that cannonballs would come up as "overload".

 

[FortBedfordbob]

What Mach I told you is correct for Fragments 1-2 pounds or so. What is really going to make a difference is the type of soil you're hunting. Up here is southwestern Pa. for the most part the areas we are hunting are only slightly mineralized so the numbers he gave you for the fragments are right. But when we're hunting the highly mineralized soils of Va. Numbers and even tone don't mean a whole heck of a lot. You can have a mini at 5 inches and it may sound like iron and have ID numbers to match. The only whole Cannonball I ever found was a British 1 pounder and it was with a White's. Deep iron on E-Tracs and Explorers in our soil will often sound like a nonferrous item with bouncey numbers. The way I set my E-Trac up for this type of Relic Hunting is 2 Tone Ferrous, that's the only types of tones I need to hear. Hunt only in Quick mask with the Ferrous number down to 27-28, you can move that up or down as you find necessary. Good Luck I hope you find a Truck Load of stuff
HH
BB

 

[Iron Patch]

Keeping in mind I hunt what is probably average ground, and use an explorer... this still might help.


For my first 4 years using an explorer I didn't go after iron relics, because I had decided I'd rather not waste my time digging iron and if that meant not getting a cannon ball or trade axe I thought it was still a good trade off. Then in 2004 I learned a good lesson missing a great find that I simply just did not finish digging because I knew it was iron. I tend to be stubborn and set in my ways, but when something ticks me off it usually provides some pretty good motivation. So since that point I started paying very close attention to iron hits, and trying to figure out how I could still dig the worthy targets but not chase every small piece like I would have had to do on my GTI. The secret is a very low Ironmask setting, but not zero because you need enough of the iron being blocked to determine the size. By this point a -14 IM setting is what I found was the best all-around setting for my button hunting, but I also learned it was very good for hunting large iron. After about a year or so I learned a few simple rules that I still use today. I should also say I usually just dig iron at my very old sites, and at these places there tends to not be too many large pieces left with the farm machines already having hauled them out. Anyway, my general rules are.... Very small iron is a false signal and I don't dig, med. iron is one way and not the other and at the right site I might dig because things like gun parts and utensils can fall in that range, and large iron rings in both ways and that's a hit I will always dig at my early sites. Even using some discrimination I still dug a 6 pound ball at about 3 feet... so I know as long as I get over the relic my detector should see it. I don't think it's as easy as just setting the detector like this and the iron becoming easy to deal with because I have 10 years on this machine, but I do think the Ironmask setting is the key.

PS... Since that day in 2004 I have dug 6 cannon balls, a half, a frag, 4 canister shots, 5 early axes, and a bayonet, and all just from old home sites. My system works for me because I never have to chase more than a few iron hits at my typical old sites, but I know I will not miss a cannon ball.

 

[3RINGER]

Iron Patch

Thanks for the help...I hope to use it this weekend. Still going over the property just hitting spot to spot. Ended up hunting the old house Sunday and pulling in that 1844 Half Penny. Want to work the spring area more now.

Thanks again and HH