# Anybody know about cannonballs?



## amblypygi

I think that's what this is but I don't know. Any clues appreciated.

 Sean


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## Staunton Dan

I have never seen a solid shot cannonball with a square hole in it. Looks like it may be something else but I don't know what. They would make good boat anchors though.


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## JOETHECROW

Counter-weight?


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## CWBookAuthor

If it's a 32-pounder, its holes must have been done later. but I believe it's a corner piece for gates or walls. It does, however, have the _*appearance*_ of a 32-pounder. 

 Mike


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## Staunton Dan

Can't see how you could drill a square hole. Had to be cast and that would rule out cannonball in my way of thinking.


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## cc6pack

My shot table shows 6.25 inch diameter and 32.4 lbs for a solid. I agree not a cannon ball. There is a small tolerance for the shells but not as much as you indicated.


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## Staunton Dan

> ORIGINAL:  lobeycat
> 
> Ye 'Ole Smithy could pound a square hole through it. They were all "cast" wheren't they?


 
 I should have said that the square hole would rule out a cannonball and that the square hole was cast into the object. I would have to agree with you that all were cast. Sometimes my tongue gets caught over my eye teeth and I can't see what I'm saying.[]


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## Erik T

maybe an old wrecking ball with a hole in the center for a bolt (possibly a square one.) or one end of an old dumbell?


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## Steve/sewell

The ball does fit the criteria of being a cannon ball in outward appearance. Could it have been cast round and solid like a cannon ball and cut afterwards with an acetylene torch. The metal does look like it was melted altered at the square openings surface on the sphere it is shiny new looking on the edges of the opening.Just a thought


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## RED Matthews

Well here I am again with a still different thought.  I have an old large still-yard some where out in my barn that was used to weigh beef cattle and heaven knows what else.  This could have been a sliding ball weight for something like that.  At one time I had a wooden box salesman's sample of a wagon scale setup.  It is now somewhere in the Smithsonian, but I think it had ball slides on it also.  RED Matthews


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## amblypygi

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm tending to agree that it's probably not a cannonball. I took some better measurements and pictures and they seem to rule out a 32 pounder, which is really all it could be if it was a US cannonball. The hole is weird because it expands inside but not very much. It is also much smaller and less square on one side versus the other. Oh well, another mysterious thing found while looking for bottles, eh? Thanks again for the help.

 Sean


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## amblypygi

> ORIGINAL:  Steve/sewell
> 
> The ball does fit the criteria of being a cannon ball in outward appearance. Could it have been cast round and solid like a cannon ball and cut afterwards with an acetylene torch. The metal does look like it was melted altered at the square openings surface on the sphere it is shiny new looking on the edges of the opening.Just a thought


 
 That shinyness is from me hacking at the rust with a screwdriver. When found it was a complete mass of black rust, what you see here is what emerged after I attacked it. My damn hands are still as black as they used to be back when I still fixed my own cars


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## RedGinger

Where did you dig it? Interesting piece.


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## JOETHECROW

> ORIGINAL: amblypygi


 
 That shinyness is from me hacking at the rust with a screwdriver.

 [/quote] 


 TAP,...TAP,...TAP...........*BOOM![]*


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## Poison_Us

I want to say that possibly they were shackle weights...prisoners tied to their heavy balls on the chain gang.. Have no idea why whey would have square holes...  The only reason to have square holes is to not be able to turn the ball.  The ends don't match so they can release the rod that made the hole easier.  If they were made after casting, this process is called Broaching.  I just can't think of a reason for them to have square holes.  They are already round, so if they turned it wouldn't make any difference.  Unless they fit onto a square peg of sorts, making the fit firm with the taper...but why..


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## surfaceone

Hey Sean,

 Cool mystery find. sir. Could it be half an example of Bar Shot?






 "Chain shot and bar shot were most often used in naval applications. Chain shot, pictured at the top, consisted of two balls of shot that were joined together by a chain. Bar shot, pictured at the bottom, consisted of two spherical balls of shot joined together with a bar. The principle of these types of shot was that they could be fired at the masts and rigging of ships and their whirling action would inflict severe damage." From.


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## Nickevlau

That was my first thought as well, just didn't know how to explain it.


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## GuntherHess

I think Joe was correct, it is a cast iron counter weight.
 I have seen a number of these at early southern homes.
 They were called cannon ball gate weights.
 http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/archive/2007/09/cannonball-gate/
 Used to automatically close heavy gates.


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## blade

I'm thinking it's a bowling ball from the 18th century.


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## riverdiver

I am gonna go with possible bar shot, that was my first thought.


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## CALDIGR2

I once dug a 12 lb shot from a backyard near here. I took it to the local, very historical, Sutter's Fort and it fit their small gun perfectly. The ball was found 7 blocks from the fort, a perfect distance for the cannon shot. The fort was in total ruins by 1870, with most of the usable material carried away by 49ers during the Gold Rush. Eventually, the fort was reconstructed beginning in the late 1890s and is a landmark in CA history. The story of Sutter and New Helvetia is a fascinating one.


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## Poison_Us

again, why the square hole?  a round one would have been just as easy to use in this and most situations.  A square hole is harder to make, typically.  Then again..thinking back, even nails were square or rectangular in shape.  Perhaps for the same reason, the peg used to form this in casting may have been square.  If I keep thinking about it, I will lose even more hair...[>:]


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## amblypygi

> ORIGINAL:  RedGinger
> 
> Where did you dig it? Interesting piece.


 
 Not dug, just found. It was in the Connecticut River near Northampton, MA. It's a very old area that has been settled since the 1650s. This thing was in an area that had probably recently been exposed because it was downstream of a big tree snag that had caused a current eddy and cleared off all of the sand. It was just a big misshapen lump of rust but it was heavy and close enough to round that I got curious and drug it up.

 Sean


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## towhead

I like the Prisoner-ball and chain idea....My first thought was a weight for a weight lifting bar.

 -Julie


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## towhead

....dumbbells-that's the word I was looking for!  -Julie


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## delphinis

There was a type of ammunition on naval ships called chain shot which consisited of two cannon balls or two halves of a cannon ball with either a bar or chain connecting them. They were used primarily for damaging the sails and rigging of an enemy ship whereas solid cannon balls were used to damage the hull of an enemy ship. I wonder if these cannon balls were chain shot (minus the bar)?

 Anthony


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## CWBookAuthor

I still say that there were used in the South as gate posts at entrances to the property. I've seen a lot of these here in the South. Has no one seen them? I can't believe that! The shape of the hole doesn't really matter.

 Mike


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