🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Possible cannon ball?

[tomtector]

My son found this while snorkeling on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. I suspect it is a cannon ball but not certain because of its size.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[Retired Sarge]

Our very own TheCannonBallGuy has a very informative page, hopefully he'll bless us with his vast knowledge, by answering your post. In the meantime peruse his page for information.

SolidShotEssentialsMod

Precise weight, diameter etc goes a long way in proving or disproving if it's a cannon ball.

 

[tomtector]

Our very own TheCannonBallGuy has a very informative page, hopefully he'll bless us with his vast knowledge, by answering your post. In the meantime peruse his page for information.

SolidShotEssentialsMod

Precise weight, diameter etc goes a long way in proving or disproving if it's a cannon ball.

Cool! Thank you! Like I said, I’m not sure, BUT I cling onto hope that it COULD be…

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I appreciate the respect I've been shown, and I try hard to be worthy of it. Multi-millions of iron/steel balls have been manufactured for Civilian usage. Therefore, we cannonball collectors have to rely on the super-precise diameter and weight specifications given for actual cannon balls, Grapeshot balls, and Canister-ammo balls given in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861. We must super-precisely measure the diameter and weight of a "maybe-cannonball" we've found, and compare it with the precise data in the Ordnance Manual. If there is no match-up for our ball's weight and diameter in the Manual's data (Called the "Shot Tables"), then our ball must be excluded from being an actual historical Artillery ball.

As shown in your precision Caliper photos (thank you for that effort) your ball is very close to the diameter of an 18-Pounder caliber Grapeshot ball. So now we check your ball's precise weight... and I find it does match the Grapeshot ball's specified weight. Your ball is very clean, having no thick encrustation which can add weight to the ball's actual iron-only weight.

Your precision weighing-scale says 1 pound 13.3 ounces. On page 38, the Ordnance Manual says a 2.40"-diameter cast-iron Grapeshot ball weighed 1.8 pounds or a little less, which translates to 1 pound 12.8 ounces. Therefore, your ball is a "close enough" match in both diameter and weight. I feel comfortable in declaring it a genuine 18-Pounder Grapeshot ball.

Note, the Manual gives us a "size range" for the balls.... i.e., "small gauge" and "large gauge." Yours is at the large-gauge end of the range, which indicates it was manufactured sometime in the 1850s/60s. Artillery balls from the Colonia Era and War-of-1812 tended to be a bit smaller than civil war era ones.

In closing, here's an important note:
All civil war and earlier US (and CSA) artillery balls were made of either lead or cast-iron.... NOT STEEL. Steel is a heavier alloy of iron than simple cast-iron, with weighing about 10% more by volume than cast-iron. So, if a ball measures the correct diameter but weighs about 10% more than the 1861 Ordnance Manual says it should, it is made of Steel -- and therefore, it is not a US or CSA Artillery ball.

(Folks, please remember, the term "Artillery ball" includes more than just cannon balls, -- it also includes Grapeshot balls, and Canister-ammo balls.)

For anybody here who isn't familiar with what "Grapeshot" means, here's a photos showing a modernday Reproduction of what was called a Stand-of-Grapeshot." It was not an explosive projectile. The blast of firing it broke the long bolt running through its center, which held the three plates and 9 large balls together, releasing them into a deadly cloud, intended to tear up the heavy mast and rigging of an enemy warship. Grapeshot was used mainly by the Navy as an anti-ship weapon. The Army used Canister-ammo, which contained 27 or more balls of smaller size, as an antipersonnel weapon.

 

[tomtector]

I appreciate the respect I've been shown, and I try hard to be worthy of it. Multi-millions of iron/steel balls have been manufactured for Civilian usage. Therefore, we cannonball collectors have to rely on the super-precise diameter and weight specifications given for actual cannon balls, Grapeshot balls, and Canister-ammo balls given in the US Ordnance Manual of 1861. We must super-precisely measure the diameter and weight of a "maybe-cannonball" we've found, and compare it with the precise data in the Ordnance Manual. If there is no match-up for our ball's weight and diameter in the Manual's data (Called the "Shot Tables"), then our ball must be excluded from being an actual historical Artillery ball.

As shown in your precision Caliper photos (thank you for that effort) your ball is very close to the diameter of an 18-Pounder caliber Grapeshot ball. So now we check your ball's precise weight... and I find it does match the Grapeshot ball's specified weight. Your ball is very clean, having no thick encrustation which can add weight to the ball's actual iron-only weight.

Your precision weighing-scale says 1 pound 13.3 ounces. On page 38, the Ordnance Manual says a 2.40"-diameter cast-iron Grapeshot ball weighed 1.8 pounds or a little less, which translates to 1 pound 12.8 ounces. Therefore, your ball is a "close enough" match in both diameter and weight. I feel comfortable in declaring it a genuine 18-Pounder Grapeshot ball.

Note, the Manual gives us a "size range" for the balls.... i.e., "small gauge" and "large gauge." Yours is at the large-gauge end of the range, which indicates it was manufactured sometime in the 1850s/60s. Artillery balls from the Colonia Era and War-of-1812 tended to be a bit smaller than civil war era ones.

In closing, here's an important note:
All civil war and earlier US (and CSA) artillery balls were made of either lead or cast-iron.... NOT STEEL. Steel is a heavier alloy of iron than simple cast-iron, with weighing about 10% more by volume than cast-iron. So, if a ball measures the correct diameter but weighs about 10% more than the 1861 Ordnance Manual says it should, it is made of Steel -- and therefore, it is not a US or CSA Artillery ball.

(Folks, please remember, the term "Artillery ball" includes more than just cannon balls, -- it also includes Grapeshot balls, and Canister-ammo balls.)

For anybody here who isn't familiar with what "Grapeshot" means, here's a photos showing a modernday Reproduction of what was called a Stand-of-Grapeshot." It was not an explosive projectile. The blast of firing it broke the long bolt running through its center, which held the three plates and 9 large balls together, releasing them into a deadly cloud, intended to tear up the heavy mast and rigging of an enemy warship. Grapeshot was used mainly by the Navy as an anti-ship weapon. The Army used Canister-ammo, which contained 27 or more balls of smaller size, as an antipersonnel weapon.

Thank you for your time and excellent information!