Civil War cannon shell explosion in Va?

[Dragoon 45]

I vaguely remember an incident that happened in the last 5 years in I think Virginia. Someone found an old Civil War cannon or mortar shell and tried to salvage the BP out of it. In the process of this, the shell exploded killing the individual trying to salvage the powder and destroyed his house. I thought I read about this in American Rifleman but can't find the article. Anyone remember this? The only thing I can find is over 15 years old and did not fit what I remember from the article.

I am trying to provide some proof to a couple of individuals who wrongly claim that any BP found in a Civil War era shell will just be black mush and will not explode. They claim to have found an area where they think there are some shells buried, and they want to demil them so they can sell them. I think their idea is the height of stupidity myself as neither one is especially careful about anything and also playing with anything that did not go boom the first time is a very bad idea in my experience. I am not saying it can't be done, just that it is a job for experts or the extremely lucky.

[Outpost75]

Contact the VA State Police or State Fire Marshall for a report on the incident. It was well documented at the time.

If they would like to dig up some good stuff I know a fellow in Oregon who can use help plowing up UXO from his timber farm and he detonates in place several every week from rifle grenades and 60mm mortars to 500-pounders! Sea Bees Rock!

[Frank46]

I believe the incident you are referring to was a gent who had years of experience doing the process of rendering the civil war shells inert. And if my brain cells are still ok was using a drill under water. They did fight some battles in my area but I'm kinda chicken. Those old borman and watertight naval fuses are nothing to mess with. Frank

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall reading about a gent down South making a "picket fence" by welding civil war gun barrels to angle iron lengths. Well as the story went he was doing just fine welding the barrels to the iron till he managed to set off the powder charge in 1 of the barrels that had been setting there since the early 1860`s. The shrapnel hit him and he died from the projectiles. This happened in the early 1960`s as I remember.Robert

[bigted]

man the stupids just roll on huh? "WELDING" rifle barrels from the civil war ... must have sounded like a great idea to him till the "civil war" took yet another casualty. wonder how many that war will take before it is finally over? be interesting to know the last man killed from that exercise in political nonsense ... even tho the action has abated a very long time ago ... seems like some will not allow their wonder to be tempered with suspicion and paying attention to the simple things.

[jaystuw]

I don't know much about the civil war stuff. However I have read that no matter how bad a ww1 dud shell looks on the outside, inside its like brand new and completely deadly. They say some of the gas shells are the worst, the ones fired from mortars are thin skinned. They are also rusty, and don't have alot of metal between you and the mustard or phosgene nerve gas within. The gas is still in liquid form and word has it that by tipping the shell back and forth you can feel the stuff slushing around. Much better to mishandle a high explosive shell than a gas one. With the high explosives you are simply here one moment and gone the next. But a whiff of 95 year old mustard gas would be a really bad experience. Jay

[bigted]

good point jaystuw !!!

[bruce drake]

88604

Just so no one starts digging around the old Aberdeen Proving Grounds Edgewood Annex in Maryland or attempts to dredge anything up in the waters of the coast there in the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Susquehanna River...

[Hardcast416taylor]

Back in the 1990`s when I was laid up after a surgery I watched a good deal of TV. There was a program that I watched that was about a bomb disposal unit in Holland. Seems the local farmers are still unearthing the explosives that were lobbed at each side during BOTH wars! The farmers do 1 of 2 ways with what they plow up. They either put them in a pile on the edge of their field (!) or leave it lay and call the bomb squad to remove it or blow it in place. The show showed a small pile of 6 mortar rounds a farmer had dug up and placed by the road (!) to await the disposal squad. They said that 2 members of the disposal unit had been killed that year so far.Robert

[Dragoon 45]

The article I remember said the house was destroyed, so I don't think this is the incident it was talking about. But thank you anyway. This will provide some ammo against their contemplated stupidity.


www.nbcnews.com/id/24441427/ns/us_news-life/t/civil-war-cannonball-kills-relic-collector/

Just did a simple search with these key words: civil war collector explodes.

[CanoeRoller]

A quick search will show that yes, you can still make a civil war era bomb go boom

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast/
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2014467209_apuscivilwarcannonball.html
http://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2011/03/cannonnball-detonated-in-virginia.html

There are pages on this. If the weapon's BP is still contained, it can go off.

I would suggest having your friends all buy life insurance before they take the chance and possibly blow themselves to bits. Some folks might think the old bomb as sort of interesting and romantic, but the explosion it can make is as deadly as a new bomb.

[ofitg]

Once saw a TV report on some guy that "inerts" CW cannonballs. He set up a drill press in the center of a stone out-building, with an extension on the lever which stuck through the building's window (so he could operate the drill press from outside the building).

Anybody who tries it while exposing their bodies to the potential explosion is just asking for a Darwin Award.

[Newoldman]

Back in the 1970's I visited the WW1 battlefield of Verdun in France. I was on foot walking and hadn't seen another person around all day. I went up a road somewhere north of Fort Vaux when I happened upon some kind of small commemorative building at the side of the road. In front of it was a pedestal where you could push a button and hear a recording made by a veteran of the battle. While I was listening to the recording there was a big explosion on the other side of the building and down the hill from there. I wasn't about to go investigate though as the ground past the edge of the road is filled with unexploded shells and the craters overlap each other. Apparently, one just finally went off after all that time.

BTW thanks to all you folks for the great info on this forum.

[dagger dog]

Was told a story by a metal detector hobbiest about having to get BATF clearence to transport ,a live mortar shell he had found, across state lines. He was told they treated all unx ordinance as live reguardless of age.

[KCSO]

As long as powder is dry it will burn. I have pulled loads wadded with newspaper from 1867 and had the powder burn just fine. I had a customer blow a hole in a wall with a gun loaded in the 1870's??? when he tried to heat the nipple for removal. I currently have a 20 pound keg of blasting powder dated 1882 and the powder is still good.

[eck0313]

When I was working with the USMC EOD Techs @ Quantico in the Mid/late 1980s, they used to get a fair amount of calls to render safe Civil War ordnance from the VA State Police. They did not consider the calls innocuous; Some of the fuzing designs are still considered dangerous.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

www.nbcnews.com/id/24441427/ns/us_news-life/t/civil-war-cannonball-kills-relic-collector/

Just did a simple search with these key words: civil war collector explodes.

One researcher to debunk the speculative whimsey, lore, and legend. Good news!

BvT

[Baron von Trollwhack]

www.nbcnews.com/id/24441427/ns/us_news-life/t/civil-war-cannonball-kills-relic-collector/

Just did a simple search with these key words: civil war collector explodes.

One researcher to debunk the speculative whimsey, lore, and legend. Good news!

BvT

[Grapeshot]

88604

Just so no one starts digging around the old Aberdeen Proving Grounds Edgewood Annex in Maryland or attempts to dredge anything up in the waters of the coast there in the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Susquehanna River...

Over the last twenty years here in Aberdeen, MD and down in Edgewood, MD, the local contractors have been digging up UXO's all over the Aberdeen Proving Ground. They found several artillery rounds and aerial bombs buried in the dirt near the golf course and down in the old training areas where they were building new buildings for BRAC. In the edgewood area they found an area just inside the main gate that was littered with unexploded cluster bomb bomblets. When they were building the Super Pond for the US Navy down near the Old Baltimore area. they were constantly finding aerial bombs that had been dropped during WW2. On one of those days the construction crew unearthed a 2000 pound GP Bomb. The EOD crew was summand or blow it in place. Like good little boys they placed a shaped charge against the Bomb, went back 300 yards and entered a bomb proof, attached the wires to a blasting machine and set the thing off. That 2000 pounder went off and detonated the two others that were under it and not seen by anyone. I was working at the Artillery Maintenance Section, about 5 to 7 miles away, and the blast caused my building to shake, causing dust to fall from the ceiling in our maintenance bay. My wife told me that all the windows shook and the cans on the pantry shelves were dancing around and the cats went nuts looking for a place to hide.

[Buzzard II]

I guess there is ONE WAY to FIX STUPID! Better thee than me!

[oldred]

Anybody know a site that has details on how these Civil war era cannon balls and bombs were designed? I tried Googling it and found a lot of cannon ball related stuff but very little on how they worked.

[Outpost75]

Don't know if artillery museum at Ft.Sill has a web site, but they have examples of early bursting shells in thie museum. Military EOD schools also have them.

[Mumblypeg]

I don't know if you are familiar with The Artilleryman magazine..... they discuss this a lot and accidents with CW ordnance. Try www.artillerymanmagazine.com that might get you some info.