Confederate?

[Duane Pringle]

Does Confederate solid shot have a slight seam and looks to have been filed off in spots? It has perfect weight and dimensions for a 6 pounder. Its a nice one all my other canon balls are extremely pitted so you really can not tell if there was a seam ,you can barely see the seam around 3/4 of this ball and does not protrude looks to of been filed in spots I was told these are generally Confederate.

 

[Duane Pringle]

I also have to add a picture of another addition
A nice 12lb wood plug ball.

 

[Duane Pringle]

Here is a beter picture of 6lb ball.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

A visible mold seam is usually one of the main features when identifying Confederate manufactured shells. Here's an example from a reputable dealer:

ART 6. Dug Confederate 6 lb. Case Shot.
Scarce shell in immaculate condition. Strong mold seam and crude mix of lead case shot . Provenance uncertain.
$350.00
http://www.armyoftennesseerelics.com/artillery

 

[Duane Pringle]

Thank you 7th Mississippi I purchased this from a reputable dealer he sells alot of civil war artifacts but Mentioned that he was for sure these were Confederate because of mold seam. I just had not seen this on my other cannon balls but this piece is in far better condition than my others. I had noticed my seam is barely noticeable at all around about a 1/4 of the ball and I can see were the vent spur was. That is a nice shell I have seen after research alot of diffrent looking seams on these Confederate balls depending on the deterioration of the ball.

 

[Duane Pringle]

Here is my whole collection so far minus my 9 pounder not for sure if its civil war there is a slight possibility it is since the Missouri state guard had a couple at the start of civil war.

 

[Duane Pringle]

Would of they filed parts of the seam that may of stuck out a little to clean up ball before use?

 

[Frederick14Va]

Granted.... more recovered identified CS artillery projectiles have at least trace evidence of mold seams visible, than many US manufactured ones... But that solely in itself usually cant be confirmed evidence that a shot/shell in question is 100 percent CS.... Much of it also depended on the skill of the casting facility and period of the war.... I have recovered CS shells that the seams are quite obvious... Others they can hardly be detectable at all... if wasn't for the presence of the CS fuse and location found it would not be able to be determined.... Have seen US shells displaying trace mold seams too... but not as many... More of a "likely to be" speculation most times..... but rarely can be totally confirmed... less of course the fuse types that may be present in it etc....

After casting shot/shells they were usually placed into a large tumbler... the shells rubbed against each other by design..... smoothing over any existing mold imperfections or high spots on the shells.... This usually took care of most small casting flaws... Rifled elongated shells were put on a lathe...

 

[Duane Pringle]

Thanks Frederick this is very helpful this 6lb is one of my best balls for condition. I wanted to add one more picture of my total collection canister shot and shell fragment.

 

[Duane Pringle]

And the tumbling of the new manufacturered canon balls to smooth out the imperfections would explain the spot were seam was smoothed it must had protruted there.

Thank you for the help Frederick.