April 18, 20233 yr #1 Hello all, I'm trying to figure out if this is a cannon ball or an ore crusher. I measured the circumference with twine and it comes out to 24.75 inches which converts to 7.878 inches in diameter and I weighed it on my bathroom scales and it's 64.8lbs. I know nothing about its provenance as it was recently given to me along with a lot of other antiques including, old tools one which is an axe with a wormy chestnut handle, multiple 3 foot long WW1 pictures, a Korean Era RT-68/GRC radio with PP-112/GR power supply, a 1927 typewriter, and a WW2 SignalCorps AirCorpmans jacket and shirt(I purchased the jacket for $25 and the rest was just given to me) Photos of the potential cannon ball show that it has a spot that looks like someone has tried to drill it. It also has a spot that looks like someone may have stuck a welder to it at some point that is also shown in one of the photos. There is also a light seam around the center which is where I measured with the twine. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
April 18, 20233 yr #3 65 pounds seems big for an ore crusher. It looks very round which was not an issue with ore crushing balls. I would look up cannon ball sizes to see if one was 65 pounds. Perhaps contacting a CW dealer who specializes on artillery as well.
April 18, 20233 yr #4 CW shells that size and weight would normally be fused. Don't see any reference in Dickey and Georges book on this type of solid shot shell, if it even is one. There were 8' mortars and smoothbore guns that did fire that size projectile, but again, they were typically explosive types.
April 19, 20233 yr #5 Take the OD measurement, then reference the many sites showing Diameter to “ Pounder” designation. Cannon ball weight is NOT an indicator of Ordnance designation, OD in inches was.
April 19, 20233 yr #6 http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm Go to solid shot for smoothie bore cannon.
April 19, 20233 yr #9 2 hours ago, 917601 said: http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm Go to solid shot for smoothie bore cannon. Thank you for the reference table! It appears it may be an 8 inch smooth bore, I'm going to try to find a dealer in my area to look at it and give me their opinion. Thank you again.
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