Cannonballs

[avidtrapshooter]

I ran into a guy who has some 10 lb lead cannon balls kicking around that he could get rid of. I am wondering if anyone knows how hard/soft cannonball lead is and if it is any good. Thanks,
Zane

[oneokie]

Could be any mix of alloys. Can you mark them with a thumbnail? Hit with a hammer and note how much deformation and sound. Look for a galvanized appearance due to Zinc-bad stuff. Sure others more knowledgeable will weigh in.

[avidtrapshooter]

I never did see them, I just got to talking to him and I got his phone # and such. Don't know a thing about cannons either, so I am running blind here. Thanks for the replies so far.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

What's the diameter of the balls? An original six pounder cannon is 3.67 Cal, and a 12 pounder is 4.62" these are with iron balls. I never heard of a Ten pounder smoothbore, so don't know where the balls you have would have been used, maybe in a six pounder cannon by a hobbyist.
My 3/4 scale six pounder, with a 2-5/8" bore, fires 2-1/2" lead balls that weigh about three pounds, and the few 2-5/8" balls I was able to make weighed six more oz. There were 10 pound guns during the War of Northern Aggression, such as the Parrot and Wiard, but they were all rifled, and used elongated shells.
Morgan

[mooman76]

Just depends on who made them. Takes allot of metal to make a ball that big. I'd get them if you can and figure out latter what you have. That's considering he giving them or practically away

[klausg]

avid-
It's probably a weight for a downrigger, fishing type stuff. Most of those are 8-12 lbs, if he bought it, it will range anywhere from dead soft to WW. If someone cast it for him, it could be anything.

-Klaus

[schutzen]

Morgan, Ten Pounders do exist and were around in the Civil War. I have two in my shop. They are black powder mortars of recent manufacture. I own one and my shooting buddy owns the other. The interesting part is my shooting buddy has an original Civil War round ball mortar projectile. It has 10 molded into the side and is a perfect fit for the bore of these mortars. The round came from the banks of the Mississippi River several miles below Columbus KY. It was the site of several gunboat battles. Neither of us want to try to shoot the original round, we are perfectly happy lobbing used softballs 300-500 yards down range. Cannons are a blast!

Back to the original question, most recently manufactured cannon balls are a Zink alloy. I would be very cautious about trying to make one into bullets.

PS The 10 pounder is right at 4" in diameter.

[The Double D]

Parrot rifles were 10 PDR but they used a bolt and not a ball. Civil War Mortars were 24 PDR, 5. 68 in diameter and larger. The Confedrates were supposed have a 12 PDR, 4.62 inch, mortar.

A 10 lb lead ball will be 3.6 inches in diameter.
A 10 lb iron ball would be 4.227 inches diameter.
A 10 lb zinc ball would be 4.3 inches in diameter.

http://lassengunsmithing.com/html/ShotWeight.htm

[fecmech]

This may be common knowledge to you cannoneers but it was news to me. Many years ago some reinactors(sp) in the area were using a black powder cannon and shooting targets at various ranges. The cannon ball as I remember was about baseball size and I was surprised that it weighed so little. The fellow said they cast a plaster of paris core with wire thru the middle and then placed that in the center of the cannon ball mould. They sure did some fancy shooting with it!

[avidtrapshooter]

klausg - well you were right he said he bought an old fishing boat and they came with it. I am picking them up Wednessday after class as he is giving them away. Thanks for the replies.
Zane

[Shiloh]

avid-
It's probably a weight for a downrigger, fishing type stuff. Most of those are 8-12 lbs, if he bought it, it will range anywhere from dead soft to WW. If someone cast it for him, it could be anything.

-Klaus

That would be my conclusion also. The cannon balls that I have seen have all been cast iron.

Shiloh

[avidtrapshooter]

Well I picked them up today, and they are lead that's for sure. Could easily mark the surface with a fingernail. I have them in the melting pot right now, to turn them into ingots and am looking forward to it.

[pa_guns]

Hi

Sounds like a good find, the price sure was right !!

Bob

[avidtrapshooter]

Made out with 38 lbs of clean lead.
So far on lead I have been paying on average $0.10 /lb, I think I can live with that. That's $2.50 for a 25 lb bag of shot, not complaining at all over here...well not yet anyways, lets hope I can run into more of the same stuff. Will be checking one of my tire places tomorrow, it's been about a month since I last visited. So let's see what kind of goodies they have waiting for me.

Had some good luck on the last bucket I got, when melting I found a $35 socket in the bucket. I returned it and he was pretty happy, so let's hope he remembers me next time I come to pick up some wheel weights!