Probably not a cannonball but let's see anyway...

[bbheigle0605]

I'm needing help IDing these 2 round things. I know they're probably not cannonballs. They weigh about 4.5lbs each and its probably not accurate bc they were on old kitchen scale. This is the only tape measure I had that would wrap around it. It's flat on each end which makes me think they are not cannonballs but what do I know 🙄 Thank you!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[No gold in NY]

They could be cannon balls, but they could be shot puts.

 

[bbheigle0605]

I paid $100 bucks for a "cannonball" that turned out to be a shot put!

 

[bbheigle0605]

At least these were given to me [emoji106]🏻 I just saw a post about cannonballs not weighing 4.5lbs. I just weighed it again and now it's 4.2 lbs. This kitchen scale is awful!

 

[Tony in SC]

Too small for a shotput, about the right size for a mill ball.

 

[bbheigle0605]

Yep. I just figured that out. It's mill balls [emoji106]🏻 Thanks!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Not cannonballs and not Mill-Balls... which have no need for the symmetrical flat spot at the north and south poles of the ball. The flats are there for a "functional" reason, important for whatever the ball's purpose was... which I can't even guess at.

Readers interested in this topic (is it a cannonball, or not?) might want to bookmark the following two links.

Data from the US 1861 Ordnance Manual, telling the super-precise diameter and very-exact weight of cannonballs used in America, from the Colonial Era through the civil war:
www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

An educational article I co-wrote with David Poche, telling how to correctly determine whether a ball is a cannonball or not, with helpful diagrams, photos, and detailed instructions:
SolidShotEssentialsMod