Big Boys Hobbies

Cannonball Niagara Region Youngstown New York Exciting find!

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Chriszyyyz

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
51
Location
Tonawanda
Found this today.Its a 6 lb ball a little under 4 inches. Lots of wars around here going back many years including the war of 1812.Can anybody give me any information on what you see? Could this be something that could still be live? I have read so many pages about cannonballs that its left me wondering what i really have.Pics include what it looked like right from the ground to after i cleaned it up which took me a while to do.Thanks
 

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Super cool!!!!!!! How did you clean it? I haven't found one and it's still on the top of my bucket list, but I'm going to quit until I find one and would love to know how you cleaned it!!!

Congrats!!
 
They used black gun powder in them,,, Black gun powder can last along time,,, They say that those cannon balls can go off,,,, I wouldn't play around with that,,, Take it to a gun smith and have him check it out,,, Let him clean old gun powder out of it,,, don't let the historical people see it they will keep it,,, GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATS ON FIND
 
Awesome find! Congrats! Youngstown has a lot of history! I'm in Lockport about to head out to a dump site. Keep up the good work!
 
Awe man that's awesome! What a cool find!! I hope you found it at the end of your hunt so you didn't have to lug that around all day lol. I guess I probably would of though haha. HH
 
Nice find... I have found two of those right in my yard...oh yeh I live in Ransomville. many buried treasures from the War of 1812 and older still around this area. oldest coin I ever found was here in Ransomville , an 1814 Half penny Token which is probably British or Canadian but it is time period. PM me about a special park in Tonawanda I don't think is hunted out yet...maybe I'll join ya for a day.
 
Totally cool find and a real keeper.
Although I do have many years experience handling modern artillery ammo, I have no idea whether or not it ever was, or still is explosive.
My suggestion is to find out how safe it is by knocking it around a bit and maybe heat it a little with a torch.
It will, or it won't explode, either way you have the answer.
Seriously, I'm just joking, of course, and I do recommend that you take it to a expert to be absolutely sure.
GL and HH.

AT Pro/GPP/Fiskars Diggers/BH Outback/CT Hand held
 
fasteddy said:
They used black gun powder in them,,, Black gun powder can last along time,,, They say that those cannon balls can go off,,,, I wouldn't play around with that,,, Take it to a gun smith and have him check it out,,, Let him clean old gun powder out of it,,, don't let the historical people see it they will keep it,,, GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATS ON FIND
Click to expand...

Almost no gunsmith would touch it. They would either tell you to take it home, or call the bomb squad. These things don't go off unless someone applies heat/sparks to them. If you really want it disarmed (and it really is a cannonball) you need to find an expert that does it.

Sitting on a shelf, it poses no risk. Just don't take any power tools and try to 'disarm' it. If it were my find, it would go on the shelf and be a cool decoration.
 
cool find, saw an episode of "Gold Fever" years ago where Tom went metal detecting for civil war artifacts. The guest was a guy who had tons of finds, including canon balls.

NOT SAYING TO DO THIS:

He built a small bunker in his back yard, blocked it in (mostly underground), then he put in a heat pipe similar to the underground smokers. He would force the heat directly to the canon ball until it was glowing.

Held it at that temp for so long and then let it cool and would drill it out.
Cant find the whole episode, but this shows alot of his canon balls and items he has. If you can find the full episode, it is worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pie11yz3q5A
 
Beach Bum said:
cool find, saw an episode of "Gold Fever" years ago where Tom went metal detecting for civil war artifacts. The guest was a guy who had tons of finds, including canon balls.

NOT SAYING TO DO THIS:

He built a small bunker in his back yard, blocked it in (mostly underground), then he put in a heat pipe similar to the underground smokers. He would force the heat directly to the canon ball until it was glowing.

Held it at that temp for so long and then let it cool and would drill it out.
Cant find the whole episode, but this shows alot of his canon balls and items he has. If you can find the full episode, it is worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pie11yz3q5A
Click to expand...

Another stupid thing to do. This supposed expert not only killed himself, but endangered his family and neighbors:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast.html

They are perfectly safe in the ground, or on a shelf. People only get hurt when they try to mess with them.
 
From the last post Fox News report, the wife stated:

"He had already disarmed the shell," she said. "From what I was told, there was absolutely nothing he had done wrong, that there was a manufacturing defect that no one would have known was there."

I am sure some civil war cannonball manufacturer out there is shivering in their boots over the lawsuit that is forthcoming....:laughing::laughing::laughing:

worm12ga said:
Another stupid thing to do. This supposed expert not only killed himself, but endangered his family and neighbors:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast.html

They are perfectly safe in the ground, or on a shelf. People only get hurt when they try to mess with them.
Click to expand...
 
Buellride said:
From the last post Fox News report, the wife stated:

"He had already disarmed the shell," she said. "From what I was told, there was absolutely nothing he had done wrong, that there was a manufacturing defect that no one would have known was there."

I am sure some civil war cannonball manufacturer out there is shivering in their boots over the lawsuit that is forthcoming....:laughing::laughing::laughing:
Click to expand...

He did do something wrong, he tried to disarm it. If he had actually disarmed it already, it would not have exploded. Manufacturing defect is a long shot, but even if defective, it would not have exploded if he didn't apply an angle grinder
(or whatever power tool) to it.
 
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