🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Need help ID-ing this 5 lb. cannonball

[stratasfan]

I got this cannon ball at a local junk shop. It is compact and cool. I know absolutely nothing about cannonballs, so I am hoping for a lot of help here.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or comments!

Here are the specs (and if there is something else that ID-ing a cannonball needs, just let me know!):

It is 10 6/16" circumference
Weighs a couple ounces over 5 lbs.

I should also say . . . I have no idea what era this is or even what country it came from!

And here are pictures of it (those are two different sides . . . it has no holes and I can't see marks - Also, it doesn't look or feel rusty like that one pictures made it look):

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

You said the ball's circumfeence is "10 & 6/16th inches," Ummm... 6/16th

I suspect you miss-typed a number somewhere in there. But for the moment, let's go with what you wrote, and turn the 6/16th into 3/8th-inch. (BTW, 3/8th translates digitally to .375-inch.) I've done the math to turn the Circumference measurement you reported into Diameter... your ball is 3.30-inches in diameter.

You also said the ball weighs "a couple ounces over 5 pounds." So let's say 5 pounds 2 ounces... which translated digitally equals 5.125 pounds.

Now, about whether your ball is a Civilian-usage ball or an Artillery ball:
The problem for us cannonball collectors is that there are so many "imposters." Literally multi-MILLIONS of iron/steel balls have been manufactured in the past two centuries for Civilian usage, not Military. For example:
Machinery-Counterweight-balls,
rock/ore crusher balls ("Mill-Balls"),
ornamental-ironwork balls (gate and fencepost tops),
large ball-bearings, and etc.

Fortunately, we have actual Historical Artillery ball size (diameter & weight) data records. The best data is in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861. Its size charts cover cannonballs used in the US from the Revolutionary War (British, Colonist, and French cannonballs) through the civil war (US and Confederate cannonballs).

Go to:

Cannon bore, shot, shell, canister, and grape shot diameters for rifled and smoothbore cannon.

Rifle Canister Cannon Bore Diameter Cannon – RifledPattern # of PiecesDiameter & Shot Material 1.7-inch Whitworth? 24 .65-inch lead shot 2.25-inch CS Mountain Rifle 27 .70-inch lead shot 2.6-inch 6-pdr.

www.historicalpublicationsllc.com

and then scroll down to:

Descriptions of Solid Shot for Smoothbore Guns​

The very-precise diameter & weight charts for Field Artillery calibers of cannonballs and Grapeshot balls shows there is no match-up in the various real cannonball (or Grapeshot ball) sizes for your 3.30"-diameter / 5.12-pound ball. Not even a "close" or "nearby" match-up. So it cannot be an Artillery ball.

Please re-check the "3-&-6/16th-inches" diameter measurement your reported. If that size measurement is incorrect, it could change the verdict on the ball's ID.

 

[brianc053]

stratasfan please follow TheCannonballGuy’s advice; his name says it all. He’s the resident expert in the subject (and other subjects too)!

 

[stratasfan]

You said the ball's circumfeence is "10 & 6/16th inches," Ummm... 6/16th

I suspect you miss-typed a number somewhere in there. But for the moment, let's go with what you wrote, and turn the 6/16th into 3/8th-inch. (BTW, 3/8th translates digitally to .375-inch.) I've done the math to turn the Circumference measurement you reported into Diameter... your ball is 3.30-inches in diameter.

You also said the ball weighs "a couple ounces over 5 pounds." So let's say 5 pounds 2 ounces... which translated digitally equals 5.125 pounds.

Now, about whether your ball is a Civilian-usage ball or an Artillery ball:
The problem for us cannonball collectors is that there are so many "imposters." Literally multi-MILLIONS of iron/steel balls have been manufactured in the past two centuries for Civilian usage, not Military. For example:
Machinery-Counterweight-balls,
rock/ore crusher balls ("Mill-Balls"),
ornamental-ironwork balls (gate and fencepost tops),
large ball-bearings, and etc.

Fortunately, we have actual Historical Artillery ball size (diameter & weight) data records. The best data is in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861. Its size charts cover cannonballs used in the US from the Revolutionary War (British, Colonist, and French cannonballs) through the civil war (US and Confederate cannonballs).

Go to:

Cannon bore, shot, shell, canister, and grape shot diameters for rifled and smoothbore cannon.

Rifle Canister Cannon Bore Diameter Cannon – RifledPattern # of PiecesDiameter & Shot Material 1.7-inch Whitworth? 24 .65-inch lead shot 2.25-inch CS Mountain Rifle 27 .70-inch lead shot 2.6-inch 6-pdr.

www.historicalpublicationsllc.com

and then scroll down to:

Descriptions of Solid Shot for Smoothbore Guns​

The very-precise diameter & weight charts for Field Artillery calibers of cannonballs and Grapeshot balls shows there is no match-up in the various real cannonball (or Grapeshot ball) sizes for your 3.30"-diameter / 5.12-pound ball. Not even a "close" or "nearby" match-up. So it cannot be an Artillery ball.

Please re-check the "3-&-6/16th-inches" diameter measurement your reported. If that size measurement is incorrect, it could change the verdict on the ball's ID.

Hi! Sorry for the typo . . . It should have read 10 7/16". As for the weight, the scale that is exact to the half ounce only goes to 4 lbs., and the other scale we have isn't to the ounce. So, that is why it has to be slightly approx. on the weight!

Interesting about the civilian use balls! Since it has nothing to do as far as gate or fencepost tops, and I would guess to rough for a ball bearing . . . would you think it is more likely the mill ball?

At least I got it for a project where I didn't need it tied to a particular type of shot! As long as it looks like a cannonball, it will still work!

Many thanks for the link, I'm definitely going to go and look and file that for future reference!

I was directed to this site and the person said you wanted "TheCannonballGuy" to answer!

 

[stratasfan]

Thanks for that link! It was really interesting! I have another question for you, if it isn't a bother . . . I couldn't find anything like this in that chart, unless I missed it. So, I'm wondering now . . .

Someone I know got this and we've not been able to ID. It is an 8.5" "cannonball" and has a 1.25" hole with a cavity inside. It weighs 70 pounds.

 

[Gene Mean]

Get a more precise diameter if possible. Looks like a close match on the chart from TheCannonballGuy.

 

[stratasfan]

Get a more precise diameter if possible. Looks like a close match on the chart from TheCannonballGuy.

Measure of what? I couldn't find anything on that chart that weighed near 70 pounds . . . what are you seeing? We'd love to know what this massive thing is! : )

 

[42 Scout car]

This might help. (Deleted for rule violation)

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Stratasfan said:
> Someone I know got this and we've not been able to ID.
> It is an 8.5" "cannonball" and has a 1.25" hole with a cavity inside.
> It weighs 70 pounds.
> I couldn't find anything like this in that chart, unless I missed it.

You missed it. Go to the Shot Tables chart listed as "Descriptions of Solid-Shot for Smoothbore Guns" and look to the right side of it for the weight of a 9-inch caliber SHELL (hollow, not a Solid). The shell's weight is 70 pounds, and for comparison, a 9"-caliber Solid ball weighs 88 pounds.

"Nine-inch caliber" refers to the diameter of the cannon's bore. The cannonball's diameter has to be a bit smaller in order to fit into the bore of a muzzleloading cannon... so a 9"-caliber ball actually measured about 8.87" in diameter. You say the ball you are asking about is "8.5 inches in diameter" so I suspect either your measurement is off by .37-inch or the ball has lost that much of its original diameter due to rust corrosion. The ball's surface doesn't look that badly corroded in your photos, so I suspect a diameter measuring error.

Until sometime after the civil war, the only 9"-caliber cannon used in American combat was the Navy's 9" Dahlgren Smoothbore. In a few cases during the 1861-65 war, some captured US Navy 9"-caliber guns got mounted in coastal and river-defense forts, manned by the Confederate Army's artillerymen.