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Are cannon balls dangerous?

Mountain Mike

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
556
Location
Sylva NC
OK I'm going relic hunting in the morning to a barely known of civil war site. Part of the property is on my families land. They told me that it was so unknown that there were cannons up there as late as 25 years ago. They found a cannon ball by eye. To my knowledge no one has ever detected there. So I hope to find a cannon ball. So what do I need to know? how do you tell the explosive ones from the solids when its just a big ball of rust? How would one be diffused if it is found to have a fuse. You get where I'm going with this. I don't want to die while in search of relics.
 
Only if someone fires one at you! lol......... I have one myself. After all this time I doubt the powder in it is any good if it was UNFIRED. Most were fired and are safe to handle either way. Soak in water if your worried. The powder can't ignite if there is any. Good luck..... canon balls are very collectable!
 
I just read a news report online where a guy in Va. blew himself up trying to clean a cannon ball he found. It said a piece of iron stuck into some ones porch a quarter mile away. Hence my question.
 
Cannons that are explosive need two things to explode... Heat& spark. If you dig one just dig slow and easy... Gently knock off cocoon with a wood implement when you get it home. If there is a fuse it needs to be professionally deactivated. Place in a water bucket and it is not going to explode. Take to a professional to drill out and deactivate. Many guys do this around here. Once it's deactivated you can have them preserve it or do it yourself. If it's solid shot you don't have to do anything to deactivate.

If you have more questions pm me. I'm not too far from you.
 
You will know a solid shot by its weight and the fact that there are no openings on it. But there were projectiles other than balls. And you are just as likely to find one of those as you are a cannon ball. If you find a ball or other shots, and they are unexploded then you should take heed. You should be able to see the fuse opening. It is not too dangerous to handle one. But smart money is to contact someone who disarms them. Your shot will also be more valuable by having it disarmed. Also, depending on the state you live in, there may be some laws regarding having it while it is still live.
 
Woah! CW cannons still there 25 yes ago??? I wonder who ended up with those. I heard that a road crew dug up a bronze cannon when they were making an intestate around Richmond that sold for $80K.

Anyway, sounds lIke an awesome spot. As a rule of thumb, any unexploded ordinance should be considered dangerous. However, not considered "live" because there is no spark to charge it. they are still filled with gunpowder and a spark from an outside source could ignite it, but it's highly unlikely unless you are beating or drilling on it and a spark gets into the chamber.

A ball without a fuse is called a solid shot, there will be no flat spot with a fuse hole. If it's a fused ball, like a Bormann, there will be a distinct area with a fuse. The solid shot can be cleaned and left alone. The fused balls need to be taken care of by a pro. They will extract the gun powder and make it where it no linger poses any threat of danger.

I hope you find a cannonball. Happy Hunting.
 
I know this might be hard to answer but what is the weight difference between fused and solid?

They were all over the place from 6-100+ Lbs. The small solid shots are 6 lb'ers. Bormanns were usually 12lb. Those two are probably the most common, but I'm just speaking from I've seen dug.
 
I just read a news report online where a guy in Va. blew himself up trying to clean a cannon ball he found. It said a piece of iron stuck into some ones porch a quarter mile away. Hence my question.

Well I am surprised a canon ball blew up without something to ignite it. My guess the guy had a cigarette he was lighting. So...... don't smoke or use a flame near it.
 
Even if not fused there is always the danger or dropping it on your toe. Something I'm sure I would do while cleaning if I ever find one.
 
The guy in Virginia was drilling it.... Dry... Some of the salt peter and gunpowder was gasous and the heat ignited the fumes. It was unstable after 150 in the ground..... That's I why you have someone else who knows what they are doing drill them out.
 
Probably the biggest danger, is dropping one on your foot... Never hurts to be overly cautious, usually hurts when you aren't... Even old powder can burn, can be a little unstable (heat, beating on it...). Considering all the folks who have shot themselves or others, and swear the gun wasn't loaded... Or all those missing fingers, hands, do to 'safe' fireworks... I personally would be very careful, until I knew what I had, and it was made safe. Don't know what a cannonball looks like, fresh out of the ground, but from some of the iron relics I've dug up, you might not know it, until it's been cleaned up some. Be tough to make the call of whether it's solid, or fuse, except maybe the weight.
 
HI Mountain Mike,

I used to live in Waynesville 20 something years ago and I heard about an old civil war battle that supposedly took place outside of town. I wasn't into metal detecting at the time, so I never bothered to check it out. Good luck in your hunting! Hope you find something nice.
 
Ive read many stories of old cannon balls blowing up , enough to believe it. Not all cannonballs are the same and generally by this time they arent explosive anymore but if you were unlucky enough to get ahold of one that just for example.....the powder inside managed to produce something like nitro glycerin just as old dynamite can do it "could" possibly be unstable and dangerous. ( I dont know if that can actually happen with a cannonball but I dont that it cant ) The best way to treat them is like a gun , always treat a gun as if its loaded even if you think its not. Only in this case it could be even more dangerous than a gun.
 
A number of years ago, a man in Dalton, GA was very seriously injured from a shell exploding. The next year a man in Virginia was killed by an exploding shell. This caused an article to appear in the North South Trader discussing why some of the shells were exploding. The author's conclusion as to why certain shell explode was because ground conditions cause a unique gas to develop in the shell. So that when it is drilled into, it explodes. The explosion, while were bad, does not seem to have the same destruction it would have had originally. I do know one individual who still disarms shells, but the field shrunk after the explosions mentioned above.
 
I have no personal experience with cannon balls or shells, but think the guys have given you some good, common sense info.

Sound like you have a great site to dig. Hope you find some cool relics. GL
 
We have been working an area close to you. There is potential there. Just dig slow so you don't damage the more fragile items. What I'm saying is when you have it in your mind is a " cannonball" it might be a full bit boss. You don't want to saw it in half like a mad man. Lol...
 
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