Ammo Grapeshot..?

[kcox418]

I know this gets asked a lot. But I'm by far an expert. So ask i shall!
Measure 1.97in
Weighs a little over a pound.
Came out of a river.

 

[Mint Julep]

Seems like it.

 

[John Winn]

Seems a bit large and heavy to me but I'm not real knowledgeable regarding naval artillery.

 

[bayonet]

What River would that be? Is it wide enough to handle small boat traffic? Could be a cannonball from a swivel cannon (maybe older than Civil War). I have one that the barrel would fit that plus have a cannonball the same size as yours.

 

[Mint Julep]

Here is a good reference.

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/shottables.htm

 

[ThatDixieGuy]

It's likely naval grape, especially if location/provenance matches up

 

[7th Texas Mounted Rifles]

You're pretty close to 'large canister' in both size and weight… considering the rarity of 32 pounders in the field, I'd bet it's a 24-pounder that slung it.

 

[bankerpapaw]

I'm no expert, but that looks more like canister than grape. I always thought grape was the size of 00 Buckshot.

 

[John Winn]

I'm no expert, but that looks more like canister than grape. I always thought grape was the size of 00 Buckshot.

You've kind of got that backwards: canister is about quarter-sized in diameter and fired from field guns; grape is 1-2 inches and fired from naval guns. No artillery used anything like buckshot (although there were buck and ball loads used in smoothbore muskets).

 

[Tom Hughes]

Grapeshot to a 32 pounder?

 

[kcox418]

Grapeshot to a 32 pounder?

No clue. On a shallow river. No naval boats. Found smaller ones

 

[bayonet]

No clue. On a shallow river. No naval boats. Found smaller ones

no doubt small cannonball to a swivel cannon mounted on small boats that traffic small rivers. Most likely predates ACW