Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today! UPDATE Cleaned

[James from TN]

I had planned on going back to where I found the spur last week and dig out the hut site but had a chance to go back to an area we have found some rare shells in the past so figured the hut site could wait another day. We have hunted this friends land for 20+ years and I can't believe my luck today. 15 Minutes into the hunt I get a deep iron signal and start to dig what I thought would be a deep fragment. The deeper I dug the better it sounds and at around 24 inches I see signs of iron in the hole. At this point I am thinking I had a 6 lb. cannonball and called my brother over so we could both see the first artillery projectile we have dug in years. After digging around trying to get it loose I see the white from the sabot and knew what I had found. I pulled it from the hole and we where both in shock since we have been over this exact spot at least 10 times in the past with different machines. I guess the extra moisture in the ground and hunting in boost mode allowed it to sound of on my machine. This thing was around 30 inches deep and is the deepest shell we have dug out of this spot. It is a 2.9 inch Baby Britten shot and is the first Britten shot we have dug. Any of these shells are rare as hens teeth but the bolt is even more rare. It is something we have always wanted to find and today was the day. I am including pictures right after I removed it from the hole and after a quick wash off with the rest of my finds. Thanks for looking and good luck if you get out. James

 

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[shack24]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That is beautiful! Congratulations.

 

[umrgolf]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Wow James, banner all the way

 

[Felinepeachy]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That is freakin' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done!!!!!!

 

[Getty]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

WHOAH MAN!!! That is one INCREDIBLE CW save there! Ill go banner!

 

[ramjet2187]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Yeah, Banner. No doubt about it.

 

[DigginThePast]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Awesome awesome find!

Huge congrats!

 

[VOL1266-X]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That is a rare puppy with very cool rifling marks on the sabot James. I hope Cannonball guy sees this one. Congrats, Quindy.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Fantastic find--well done!!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[zaxfire69]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Holy moly cow...That is about as fine as they come. Congrats on digging that Bannerific find..Needs to go up top.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

First Rate!

 

[Aquila]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Nice shell . But is that still dangerous? Still powder in it?

 

[ImpurestStewart]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That's what I'm wondering, Is it still live ordinance? Terrific find!!

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Nice shell . But is that still dangerous? Still powder in it?

That's what I'm wondering, Is it still live ordinance? Terrific find!!

That's the first thing I thought as well. The Laws are different over here, if I found it, the bomb squad would be called & they would blow it up.
How dangerous is it & how do you make it safe?

 

[civilman1]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

Beautiful shell Jame's English made shell's that both side's had access to,is it still fused?

 

[MKnTenn]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That's what we wanted to find and not only did you find one but you found a super rare solid shot, congratulations, kinda. Blew me out of the woods. Next time it will be my turn, maybe. For those that don't know about these shells, the ones with powder in them are as safe as this solid one, they didn't have any fuzes so they used paper fuzes that didn't work very well, (we have found fragments to only 3 or 4 shells), when we find a shell the paper time fuze is gone and moisture has gotten in the shell, so they are safe to handle. HH Update- it turned out to be a shell, not a bolt.

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That's what we wanted to find and not only did you find one but you found a super rare solid shot, congratulations, kinda. Blew me out of the woods. Next time it will be my turn, maybe. For those that don't know about these shells, the ones with powder in them are as safe as this solid one, they didn't have any fuzes so they used paper fuzes that didn't work very well, (we have found fragments to only 3 or 4 shells), when we find a shell the paper time fuze is gone and moisture has gotten in the shell, so they are safe to handle. HH

OK, that helps explain it. However, do they need treatment & when they dry out, do they leak or the iron fall off?

 

[MKnTenn]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That's what we wanted to find and not only did you find one but you found a super rare solid shot, congratulations, kinda. Blew me out of the woods. Next time it will be my turn, maybe. For those that don't know about these shells, the ones with powder in them are as safe as this solid one, they didn't have any fuzes so they used paper fuzes that didn't work very well, (we have found fragments to only 3 or 4 shells), when we find a shell the paper time fuze is gone and moisture has gotten in the shell, so they are safe to handle. HH

OK, that helps explain it. However, do they need treatment & when they dry out, do they leak or the iron fall off?

I use electrolysis to remove the rust, after that process, i put a thin layer of light oil on mine, then after a day or so wipe as much oil off as i can then cover it in a 50/50 solution of polyurethane and paint thinner. After this, the iron will be stable, slick, and beautiful. Sorry Bro, I guess i should let you answer these questions, but i am very excited about you finding that bolt, one i always wanted to find.

 

[James from TN]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

That's what we wanted to find and not only did you find one but you found a super rare solid shot, congratulations, kinda. Blew me out of the woods. Next time it will be my turn, maybe. For those that don't know about these shells, the ones with powder in them are as safe as this solid one, they didn't have any fuzes so they used paper fuzes that didn't work very well, (we have found fragments to only 3 or 4 shells), when we find a shell the paper time fuze is gone and moisture has gotten in the shell, so they are safe to handle. HH

OK, that helps explain it. However, do they need treatment & when they dry out, do they leak or the iron fall off?

We use the electrolysis to remove the rust, after that process, i put a thin layer of light oil on mine, then after a day or so wipe as much oil off as i can then cover it in a 50/50 solution of polyurethane and paint thinner. After this, the iron will be stable, slick, and beautiful.

Yes these type of shells are safe to handle, thanks for explaining it. You know I will be using electrolysis to clean it and once it gets cleaned I will post a picture of how it turned out. Hopefully it will look as good as the day it was fired at the Confederates. James

 

[flatbuttonman]

Re: Found a rare Civil War artillery shell today!

I had planned on going back to where I found the spur last week and dig out the hut site but had a chance to go back to an area we have found some rare shells in the past so figured the hut site could wait another day. We have hunted this friends land for 20+ years and I can't believe my luck today. 15 Minutes into the hunt I get a deep iron signal and start to dig what I thought would be a deep fragment. The deeper I dug the better it sounds and at around 24 inches I see signs of iron in the hole. At this point I am thinking I had a 6 lb. cannonball and called my brother over so we could both see the first artillery projectile we have dug in years. After digging around trying to get it loose I see the white from the sabot and knew what I had found. I pulled it from the hole and we where both in shock since we have been over this exact spot at least 10 times in the past with different machines. I guess the extra moisture in the ground and hunting in boost mode allowed it to sound of on my machine. This thing was around 30 inches deep and is the deepest shell we have dug out of this spot. It is a 2.9 inch Baby Britten shot and is the first Britten shot we have dug. Any of these shells are rare as hens teeth but the bolt is even more rare. It is something we have always wanted to find and today was the day. I am including pictures right after I removed it from the hole and after a quick wash off with the rest of my finds. Thanks for looking and good luck if you get out. James

Wow!! Great Shell nice job, that would have made my day to keep hunting,thanks for saving history one shell at a time!!
Flatbuttonman