15.5 lb solid lead ball dug up in Colorado

4

4V50 Gary

Staff
Someone dug up a lead ball that weighs 15.5 lb? Could it be a Spanish cannon solid shot? I know the Spaniards have 15 lb cannons, but not 15.5 pounds. There is no fuse or fuse hole so he doesn't have to worry about it going kaboom.
 
I highly doubt the Spanish were that exact when it came to making cannon balls, but if it was used in a cannon, then the weight of the cannon would have been for iron cannon balls and so you would expect a lead cannon ball of the same diameter to be heavier. Even so, lead cannon balls would be problematic and would become misshapen during transport, which would cause problems in the cannon. That is why cannon balls were usually not lead, thought shot can be. At 15.5 lb would be a large single piece of shot, LOL.
 
Measured the ball and it is 4 1/2" in diameter. Dug up in Trinidad, Southern Colorado. The gonne smithing school tested it with a magnet and the magnet does not stick.
 
Alan Nichols * not sure if that is spelt correctly) has many many artifacts hes found while plowing his hay fields in Hoehne. He has cannon balls, minie balls, you name it. Trinidad was a supply route back in the days.
 
At 4.5" of diameter, your "lead" ball should weigh about 19.5 lbs., assuming it is solid. I suggest to you that it is not lead.
Brass would weigh about 14.5 lbs.
 
It does have some white oxidation on it. Yes, it could be a counterweight, but wouldn't bars be easier? Flat bars tend to stay put.
 
Are you sure it is lead? I have what I thought was an iron cannonball but is a steel ball from a ball mill used to tumble & crush ore to process for refining. I bought it at a flea market in Wallace, Idaho. It feels heavy like lead. A lead cannonball would be put to better use as good resource for musket balls & shot and might overload a cannon and cause it to burst.
 
It does have some white oxidation on it. Yes, it could be a counterweight, but wouldn't bars be easier? Flat bars tend to stay put.
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I've seen a lot of round counterweights on steam engines and such but they were iron and often mistaken for cannon balls or grapeshot when found by themselves.
 
My cell phone is on a Safety Sleeve that doesn't have a cutout for the camera lens. Sorry guys. So, I didn't bother to take pictures. As to link, I saw it and held it. It hasn't been published on line.
 
It has nothing to do with guns, and is probably iron, not lead. They were used in huge tumblers to crush ore.

Jim
 
Well, a 4.5" sphere of iron will weigh about 13.6 lbs and would be closer in weight than would be lead. Interestingly, a sphere of copper that size weighs about 15.5 lbs.
 
Paul Bunyan probably cruising Colorado's forests for timber cutting. As many know he did carry a muzzle loader. Was there any remembrance found that belonged to Babe the Blue Ox?
 
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