MD?ers: Can any one help I.D. a cannon ball?

[SPWalker]

MD?ers: Can any one help I.D. a cannon ball?

This was found last summer while a friend and I was on a hunt around Saltillo, Mexico.

We believe it to be a Maximllion cannon ball/grenade (the reality is we have very little to go on).

We call it a cannon ball/grenade because it has serration?s all over it. Also if you look closely it has a brass screw in cap with a copper primer. Even a close look revels scar marks when the cap was put in place by a tool of some sort.

It came from a very old site that uses to be a fort or large walled house, so we know it is not modern made.

We believe it would have had a wood sleeve around it to be placed into a cannon barrel and then this would have also been used to help it clear the barrel as it was shot out. Some CW cannon balls are like that so we thought it might be a similar method used.

It looked to me it was still armed so I buried it at my barn in a steel box 3-foot deep for safety. No idea how to go about disarming a cannon ball. Best to be safe than dead and talked about in the national papers.

Any way I got one.

Any one want to help I.D. exactly what it is, when or who made it? I have had it up on several treasure sites and do not know much more than when we found it.

Have fun digging.

SW

 

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[rvbvetter]

? ? ? Was going to suggest the civil war forum, but seen you've been there. I know nothing about this stuff. Just wanted to offer encouragement to hang in there. Surely somebody will be able to identify it eventually.? Being that i know nothing about this. I do have a sort of observance, question about it. Does the shape of it lend itself to being a projectile? Didn't it need to somewhat fit the barrel for compression when fired? Glad to hear you took the neccessary precautions. Hope i'm not being a nuisance. HH

 

[stoney56]

rvbvetter, they also used shells with wooden sabots that actually sealed the gases and which fell away after they were fired. That particular configuration is one that I've not seen before.

 

[dgaughan]

maybe it's from the mexican war the u.s. fought in the 1830's the u.s. army bounced around and fought quite a few battles down there. i hope this will give you some clues

dylan

 

[netrubicon]

Hello,
Never posted here before and have been lurking for a month. This is my first post and that is an awesome find. That cannonball was meant to break up and scatter and better suited for medium ranges. I would love to hunt in Mexico. Went to Puerto Vallarta this past December. Im not sure how legal it is ifat all to hunt there. Heck, I dont even own a detector yet. Just wanted to say nice find and wish I had one. Mexico is awesome.

netrubicon

 

[SPWalker]

Thanks to all for the Thanks to all for the encouragement.

The site it came from was on the old road that would have been used by several military groups US, French, Mexican, Texan, German mercenaries, Austrian mercenaries and the list may even go on.

Several other military artifacts were found at this location such as gun parts and buttons from a mix of army?s over a period of several years. Now it is pretty much hunted out.

At one time I even sent some photos to the ?U.S. Museum of Military Projectiles? in D.C. Talked to them and they did not have a clue as well. The mystery goes on.

Keep on digging.

SW

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Hi everyone cool dig story! Here is one for you. Someone around here found a live bomb with a detector. He called the police they called the military, military came took the bomb and detonated it at the base. It needed two clear miles for detonation. If i was you I would call the military and have them check it. If its live you may lose it and not get it back but no one will likely get killed from it now or in the future and if its dead they will likely let you keep it.

 

[allen]

cant be of much help, but its a cool find