Canister shot round ?

[Houdog16]

Hey y'all so a few months ago the person at the local antique shop gifted me what looks like a canister shot from a cannon he has a few more but he gave the rest to his son he said he found them in Rose Hill Alabama which is basically our home town he said he also saw like trench looking structures but didn't want to go in them due to them looking not looking safe I asked him if he knew where the place he got it from was but he has bad memory so I was wondering if you can confirm if this is I think grape shot or something like that and also maybe tell me why it would be down here

 

[Houdog16]

The reason for the gift was because he knew I loved war history he told me to figure out what I can about it lol

 

[Frederick14Va]

If able an accurate measurement using calipers, and its weight would greatly help determining same. Each respective gun caliber had different sizes of canister, which can be compared to the period shot tables. May be optical illusion in the pics but the object seems to be a bit "out of round" in shape. If so tends to lean it away from potentially being artillery related. Iron balls had many other uses beyond cannons.

 

[Kurtlg]

What is the diameter ?

 

[Houdog16]

Hey y'all so a few months ago the person at the local antique shop gifted me what looks like a canister shot from a cannon he has a few more but he gave the rest to his son he said he found them in Rose Hill Alabama which is basically our home town he said he also saw like trench looking structures but didn't want to go in them due to them looking not looking safe I asked him if he knew where the place he got it from was but he has bad memory so I was wondering if you can confirm if this is I think grape shot or something like that and also maybe tell me why it would be down here
View attachment 503258View attachment 503259

I measured the best I could I don't have a clamp so I used a measuring tape

 

[Houdog16]

If able an accurate measurement using calipers, and its weight would greatly help determining same. Each respective gun caliber had different sizes of canister, which can be compared to the period shot tables. May be optical illusion in the pics but the object seems to be a bit "out of round" in shape. If so tends to lean it away from potentially being artillery related. Iron balls had many other uses beyond cannons.

It's got one flattish side but besides that is pretty spiracle

 

[Houdog16]

What is the diameter ?

I just measured it you can probably look at it better than me I posted 2 times I measured it in a picture if you want to look at it

 

[Kurtlg]

I just measured it you can probably look at it better than me I posted 2 times I measured it in a picture if you want to look at it

A bit hard to tell with the shadow but most 12# canister was about 1.5 inches. It does look out of round.

 

[Houdog16]

A bit hard to tell with the shadow but most 12# canister was about 1.5 inches. It does look out of round.

Yeah idk if it was fired and it hit something that caused one side to be flatter that's the main problem is the lopsidedness that it makes it more difficult to tell if it's a canister shot

 

[Frederick14Va]

Yeah idk if it was fired and it hit something that caused one side to be flatter that's the main problem is the lopsidedness that it makes it more difficult to tell if it's a canister shot

Originals were made out of cast iron, hard and brittle but which is not malleable, so they wouldnt be able to dent, deform or flatten, like steel will. Based on your tape measurement it appears about 1.7 in. The 12lb canister would be 1.48in, (.43lb) the next caliber up in use during that era would be the 24lbr gun who's canister is at 1.86in. (.86lb). They were precision made with fairly low tolerances of .03 or less. The measurements as well as the deformity tend to lean it away from likely being canister.

 

[Houdog16]

Originals were made out of cast iron, hard and brittle but which is not malleable, so they wouldnt be able to dent, deform or flatten, like steel will. Based on your tape measurement it appears about 1.7 in. The 12lb canister would be 1.48in, (.43lb) the next caliber up in use during that era would be the 24lbr gun who's canister is at 1.86in. (.86lb). They were precision made with fairly low tolerances of .03 or less. The measurements as well as the deformity tend to lean it away from likely being canister.

Ight thanks for answering the question I really appreciate y'all I'll let y'all know if I find anything else

 

[Rhea Cole]

Two links that make it possible to identify spherical artifacts as artillery projectiles.

Cannon bore, shot, shell, canister, and grape shot diameters for rifled and smoothbore cannon.

Rifle Canister Cannon Bore Diameter Cannon – RifledPattern # of PiecesDiameter & Shot Material 1.7-inch Whitworth? 24 .65-inch lead shot 2.25-inch CS Mountain Rifle 27 .70-inch lead shot 2.6-inch 6-pdr.

www.historicalpublicationsllc.com

This link is to everything you need to know about Civil War canister, grape & projectile sizes. Save it!

This link is to a calculator for the weight of metallic spheres.

Metal Weight Calculator

Use this metal weight calculator to quickly figure out the weight of construction materials.

www.omnicalculator.com

With these two links you can go a very long way toward identifying mystery metal spheres. It is worth noting that canister balls were not ball bearings, a certain eccentricity is to be expected.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Was canister that big?

 

[Rhea Cole]

Was canister that big?

I am making the assumption that you are asking about canister& grape.

Canister is an anti personnel round. It turns a cannon into a shotgun.

A stand of grape or quilted grapeshot was a nautical round. The individual balls can be the size of six pounder cannon balls. It was used to shred opponent's masts, spars, sails & rigging. The cluster of heavy balls splintered topsides of wooden ships. Each strike scattered a sunburst of razor edged, needle sharp splinters.

Cannon bore, shot, shell, canister, and grape shot diameters for rifled and smoothbore cannon.

Rifle Canister Cannon Bore Diameter Cannon – RifledPattern # of PiecesDiameter & Shot Material 1.7-inch Whitworth? 24 .65-inch lead shot 2.25-inch CS Mountain Rifle 27 .70-inch lead shot 2.6-inch 6-pdr.

www.historicalpublicationsllc.com

This website charts all Civil War shot.