Canon Ball

[8thvacav]

A friend in Ok. has a canon ball that was dug at Pea Ridge 80 years ago. It is a round ball and he said it had what he thought was a plug in it. On the plug is the letter "A". He said when you shake it that there is something inside. I told him not to shake it that it may be live. He said it weight was about 6 lbs. Do you know what the A stands for on the plug? Where would he find somebody to tell him if it is safe or not? Any help will be appreciated.
8thvacav
http://www.tctc.com/~msuiter/

 

[johan_steele]

US Army or USAF EOD would be willing to check it for you. 10-12 years ago they disarmed a War 2 vintage training rocket found in a field it was done free of charge.

Sounds like a Model 1841 6 pounder Sperical Case shot... If he starts shaking it or picks up a drill I'm headed FAR away. It may well still be live and can be quite dangerous.

"A" on the fuse might refer to an Augusta Arsenal produced time fuse. Bormann fuses were more likely to go off while the CSA fuses had a tendency toward poor quality control early in the War.


typical 6 LBS spherical case: weight 4 lbs diameter 3.58"

Good Luck

 

[8thvacav]

Thank you Shane. I will pass it on.
Martin