🥇 BANNER *Possible* Colonial Iron 3" Smooth Bore CANNON DUG TODAY!!!!!!

[FoundInNC]

Hey folks, I am pretty excited to say that I think I have dug what appears to be an exploded cannon barrel fragment!

***EDIT***

CANNON FRAGMENT CONFIRMED!!!!!!!! Thanks THECANNONBALLGUY for an excellent ID and narrative!

I was hunting in Mebane, NC in a yard where an old home once stood and I got this iffy signal on my Garrett AT-Pro(bouncing from iron to silver dollar) and I decided to dig it. Boy am I glad I did. I finally hit some metal at about 9" down, and started carving around this massive chunk of iron with my worn out Lesche. After about ten minutes of hard core digging, I could finally get my hands on it and tug. It was cemented in the clay. I went to the neighbor's house and borrowed a pry bar, because I just had to see what this thick, solid chunk of iron was. Normally if I dig down that deep and see that it is a plow point, I will cover it up, but this had me curious. After prying on it a few different ways with the prybar, I had it loose in the hole, and had to widen the plug at the top so it would fit through. That is when I laid it up on the dirt pile and the thought ran through my head, could this be a cannon barrel fragment? The inside of it was round and smooth like a pipe, but the walls of the pipe would be 3"+, weighing AT LEAST 30 pounds. I showed it to the property owner and he was unsure but didn't reject the idea of it being a cannon.

I can't see what else it could be. I do not have an explanation for where it was found, but it was so deep, it had for sure been there for a while. I am confused as to why a cannon would have been on this property, much less have been fired, and exploded! I am open to discussion if you guys and gals do not agree with my analysis. (it just looks too beefy to be farm junk!)

Other finds for the evening included a small brass cuff link or button, an old "tombac" cow bell, and a early to mid 1800s toe tap, with fragments of leather and nails!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pictures!

 

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[AU Seeker]

Pretty cool!!

You got my banner vote!

 

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[DocBeav]

Great find and great post by Cannonballguy...as usual! Great job! Go back and look for the rest of it.....if it blew at that location, you are bound to find more!

 

[Flathead25]

The "barrel" (groove) is uniformly cast, and the reason it looks like it is getting smaller is because of my trick photography. The 3" can will sit anywhere in the groove, as flush as I can get it without sanding away some more rust. I think I am going to stay away from electrolysis on this one because there is some original finish left on it with no rust and I am hoping I can manually clean it so that the outside looks nice and smooth. I think electrolysis would eat this original finish up to bare metal.

FoundinNC, if I could put my two cents in, I dug an old victorian door key that was crusted over pretty bad. I put it in the electrolysis tank for a day and a half, taking it out every 4 or 5 hrs to wire brush it and after the majority of the rust had come off, i noticed the key had an iron core but had been coated in brass. A small portion of the brass was still attached and the electrolysis didn't harm or destroy it. If you do decide to put it in a tank, I would find an inconspicuos spot to drill a small pilot hole into the iron and run a brass screw or solder a heavy guage copper wire into the piece to attach your lead to. I'm not an expert, but I think you could get a really clean result from electrolysis if you take it slow and keep an eye on it. Ive noticed on some of the other pieces, ie. axe heads, the only pitting I got was where the aligator clip came in contact with the piece. Therefore, I would take it out and move the clip around to even out the process. Just my two cents, and if anyone reads this and notices a flaw in my suggestion, let me know. On the other hand, SUPER awesome find!!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Awesome find! I'd have to look for more fragments around there, but I'd imagine a blast powerful enough to destroy a cannon would scatter the pieces far and wide.....

 

[TheCoinKid]

Kudos to the finder for recognizing it for what it was. I certainly had my doubts. Great find!

 

[CoinHunterAZ]

Excellent find! It makes me wonder how many lives were lost when that thing decided to let go. Shrapnel every which way I am sure.

 

[BuckleBoy]

I will bet that you have a chance at finding another fragment of that field piece. Banner nominated. Not THAT is not something you see everyday!

 

[FoundInNC]

FoundinNC, if I could put my two cents in, I dug an old victorian door key that was crusted over pretty bad. I put it in the electrolysis tank for a day and a half, taking it out every 4 or 5 hrs to wire brush it and after the majority of the rust had come off, i noticed the key had an iron core but had been coated in brass. A small portion of the brass was still attached and the electrolysis didn't harm or destroy it. If you do decide to put it in a tank, I would find an inconspicuos spot to drill a small pilot hole into the iron and run a brass screw or solder a heavy guage copper wire into the piece to attach your lead to. I'm not an expert, but I think you could get a really clean result from electrolysis if you take it slow and keep an eye on it. Ive noticed on some of the other pieces, ie. axe heads, the only pitting I got was where the aligator clip came in contact with the piece. Therefore, I would take it out and move the clip around to even out the process. Just my two cents, and if anyone reads this and notices a flaw in my suggestion, let me know. On the other hand, SUPER awesome find!!

The whole problem with electrolysis is that it takes the relic down to the base metal. There are spots on this cannon frag that are the original surface that touched the casting mold. It is now oxidized now, obviously, but if I were to do electrolysis, that whole original surface will be lost forever, and I am not willing to lose it so that it can be shiny. This is exactly why I do not wash old coppers with water or oil. Both break down the oxidation. Most times, the date is made 100% of oxidation, and once you wash the oxidation off(the green) you are left with a "cull" type coin. I think it is really good looking as is, and I think that it will be preserved just fine with the rust attached. As for an old horseshoe, or axe head, yes, cook away. There is no monetary value there, so harming the original surfaces will not really matter. Thanks for the comment!

 

[jamesbibb]

Without reading the replies. Major congrats on the trunnion sectiion tube fragment. Looks like an early, small bore gun.
Wow

 

[Flathead25]

The whole problem with electrolysis is that it takes the relic down to the base metal. There are spots on this cannon frag that are the original surface that touched the casting mold. It is now oxidized now, obviously, but if I were to do electrolysis, that whole original surface will be lost forever, and I am not willing to lose it so that it can be shiny. This is exactly why I do not wash old coppers with water or oil. Both break down the oxidation. Most times, the date is made 100% of oxidation, and once you wash the oxidation off(the green) you are left with a "cull" type coin. I think it is really good looking as is, and I think that it will be preserved just fine with the rust attached. As for an old horseshoe, or axe head, yes, cook away. There is no monetary value there, so harming the original surfaces will not really matter. Thanks for t







he comment!

I'm totally with you on keeping the original appearance and patina. Here are some before and after pics on the key.

 

[huntsman53]

With the trunion being so far back, is it possible that it's a moartar rather than a cannon?

The trunnion was not far back on the cannon, it just appears as such when viewing the pics of exterior straight on! In pic #5 (internal straight on pic), one can clearly see that the piece failed just outside of the first and second reinforcing rings.


Frank

 

[romeo-1]

That is one of the coolest iron finds I have seen posted! Definitely on my "most wanted" list!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

"Rick (Nova Scotia) I'll admit this...I have no idea what I'm looking at, but seeing the "id" of what would be a "barrell" it does not look smooth (which could be explained by rust), but nor does it look uniform (a barrell can't suddenly shrink in diameter).
Not a canon, will bet $100"
This is a very cool find FoundInNC!
As seems to be the consensus, I would leave the original surface as found. If for some strange reason the electrolysis didn't go as planned you would feel terrible! Although the suggested method of 'tapping' a small brass screw into the metal prior to doing the electrolysis makes sense.

What makes this find even sweeter is you're now up $100 just for having posted it!

Dave

 

[atprolen]

Great find hope u can find more of it !!! That's y I dig everything that gets a signal 8 inches or deeper u just never no after all we are all looking for metal !! And would hate to miss finds like that I personally don't care if its junk so dig it all. Hope your find is what you thought it is. Congrats

Sent from my iPad using TreasureNet

 

[hereandthen]

First off, fantastic find, my friend!

On the subject of Civil War artillery pieces, especially rifled ordinance, bursting -- it happened more often than you might imagine. 110 large caliber cannon were documented by Northern forces as having burst in action. 93 were Parrotts, three were 4.2", sixty 6.4", nineteen 8", and one 10". (Source: Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance by Jack Bell). During the attack on Fort Fisher, so many Parrotts exploded (nine total, causing devastating injuries on board the attacking fleet) that Porter ordered gunners to stop firing them. He said that the Parrott 100-pounders were "unfit for service, and calculated to kill more of our men than those of the enemy."

Congrats again!

Jim

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks for the informative post Jim. Were these just the Northern guns that burst? I wonder how many Southern cannons burst as it was interesting reading that there were strict orders to the Northern troops not to use captured ammunitions because of their inferiority.

I wonder if this piece had any quality issues if it was a US iron copy of an English cannon. Would be interesting to see if anyone can find any documentation on numbers and types of burst guns during the Revolutionary War.

FINC, any more fragments found?

First off, fantastic find, my friend!

On the subject of Civil War artillery pieces, especially rifled ordinance, bursting -- it happened more often than you might imagine. 110 large caliber cannon were documented by Northern forces as having burst in action. 93 were Parrotts, three were 4.2", sixty 6.4", nineteen 8", and one 10". (Source: Civil War Heavy Explosive Ordnance by Jack Bell). During the attack on Fort Fisher, so many Parrotts exploded (nine total, causing devastating injuries on board the attacking fleet) that Porter ordered gunners to stop firing them. He said that the Parrott 100-pounders were "unfit for service, and calculated to kill more of our men than those of the enemy."

Congrats again!

Jim

 

[FoundInNC]

Erik, I searched yesterday for an hour and today for two hours and found no similar fragments, but I still am in disc mode. I am not ready for all metal at this field. There is lots of farming debris, like plow points, hand tools, and the danged iron rings that sound amazing. I am going to just take a bucket out there and start filling it up when I am out of nonferrous targets to dig. Today I pulled a "Standard Colour Treble Gilt" flat button and a pouch full of "junk" but nothing that I would consider to be a cannon fragment. I still have hope but even if I never find another piece, I am super stoked about the piece I already recovered!

 

[huntsman53]

Erik, I searched yesterday for an hour and today for two hours and found no similar fragments, but I still am in disc mode. I am not ready for all metal at this field. There is lots of farming debris, like plow points, hand tools, and the danged iron rings that sound amazing. I am going to just take a bucket out there and start filling it up when I am out of nonferrous targets to dig. Today I pulled a "Standard Colour Treble Gilt" flat button and a pouch full of "junk" but nothing that I would consider to be a cannon fragment. I still have hope but even if I never find another piece, I am super stoked about the piece I already recovered!

Considering that the piece was from the lower section of the trunnion, it is likely that the cannon when it blew up was at or very near the spot where you located the piece (i.e. it was probably blown downward through cannon carriage)! The remaining pieces of cannon were likely blown up to hundreds of yards in all directions while some larger pieces may have been carted off the field of battle for re-use in making other items. A circle search pattern outwards from the location where you found the piece, might yield other portions of the cannon. If analyzed, the piece that you found may be the most important piece of the puzzle in determining why the cannon (failed) exploded (i.e. stress cracks that were not a result of the explosion)! The thoughts that the area around the trunnion was already compromised before it exploded come to mind due to the cannon being transported on and off of many battlefields (i.e. could it have developed cracks around the trunnion and 1st and 2nd reinforcing rings due to the method of transport?).

Sorry I forgot to say it before! Congrats on a great find!


Frank

 

[pepperj]

Very interesting find and thread with many different possibilities of how it blew and where the rest is laying. If been in a plowed field there could be pieces almost in any direction of the actual location. The farmers could of tossed pieces off the field for 150 years and not paying any real attention to what the metal were made from except for the fact that they could damage their animals or equipment.

Congrats on the find and I hope that your able to put more pieces together in the near future.

 

[farmerjay]

That is a great find. Nice job.