iron ball

[vpone]

Hey All,

Ok, I found this iron ball at a farm field today. The farm field is one of our colonial hot spots - everything that has come from this site (and I mean everything) has been mid to late 1700's.
The ball was buried about 17 inches down and is solid iron. It weighs 1.5lbs and is approximately 2 inches across.

Only thing I can possibly think of is this is a small cannon ball or cannon shot of some sort. There was a colonial fort located about a half mile away from this site - any help is appreciated.

thanks !

vp

 

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[Monty]

I'll hazard a guess....cannon ball! Maybe canister shot, but I don't know what kind of shot they used way back then or how big their cannon were? Monty

 

[artyfacts]

Grape shot. Good site on cannons. http://www.americanrevolution.org/artillery.html

 

[Lucas]

Being as lumpy as it is, it has lost some weight. 2 lb. is a standard cannon ball size, 3 lb. was more common tho. I would go with it being a 2 lb. ball. 2 inches is big for grape?

It could easily have gone a half mile, and buried itself.

 

[artyfacts]

2 pounder has a bore diameter of 2 inches shot diameter was around 1 7/8. The three pounder had a bore diameter of three inches shot size 2 7/8. The reason I'm guessing grapeshot was the odd diameter of the iron ball, just over 2 inches. http://www.civilwarartillery.com/ Here is a partial discussion on grapeshot I copied.

Both come in a range of sizes. Cannister was much more frequently employed. It was found that more, smaller balls were more effective against massed troop formations than fewer, larger balls.

A standard cannister round for a 12lb cannon had 27 1.46-1.49" diameter balls in 4 rows between two iron plates with a thin outer wrap (think paint can full of iron balls). A 12lb stand of grape had 9 balls of just over 2" in diameter between two thicker iron plates and held in place by a bolt through the center and two rings above the first and second layers of balls.

 

[cwdigger]

Looks like canister to me