Anyone know what this is?

Fighting Irish · 18-10-2009 11:46pm #1

It's about 25mm in diameter
It's a darkish green colour
It doesn't stick to a magnet
It's perfectly round
It's fairly heavy for it's size
It's definitely a metal
It has some small round indents in it, you can see in the first pic

Red Hand · 18-10-2009 11:50pm

Musket ball?

Fighting Irish · 18-10-2009 11:51pm

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Musket ball?

That's what i thought, but how can i be sure?

kwalshe · 18-10-2009 11:51pm

I remeber see-ing something like this in a museum, I think I remember it being some type of artilliary. Where you get it?

Fighting Irish · 19-10-2009 12:10am

kwalshe wrote: »

I remeber see-ing something like this in a museum, I think I remember it being some type of artilliary. Where you get it?

My back garden, 3" down

Nebit · 19-10-2009 1:47am

hand it to the museum, you'll be credited and they'd tell you what it is.
it looks like some type of ammunition anyways.

boneless · 19-10-2009 12:32pm

Looks like a 1 inch musket ball alright. The "dent" could be where the moulding left a stub which was filed off. And as you live in Carlow, there may be a 1798 connection

dr gonzo · 19-10-2009 6:53pm

+1 for 1798 if you live in Meath also.

Fighting Irish · 19-10-2009 7:18pm

dr gonzo wrote: »

+1 for 1798 if you live in Meath also.

One of my friends says it's a ball bearing, if it doesn't stick to a magnet, what metals am i looking at?

Mahatma coat · 20-10-2009 1:50pm

Fighting Irish wrote: »

One of my friends says it's a ball bearing, if it doesn't stick to a magnet, what metals am i looking at?

the magnet thing works a lot easier the otherway round, there are a lot less ferro Metals than there are non ferrous.

that looks like musketballs to me, how much do they weigh?

25mm is too big to be a Brown Bess round, but it may well have some connection to the United Irishmen and their 'Long barrel guns of the Sea'

dr gonzo · 22-10-2009 12:39am

Fighting Irish wrote: »

One of my friends says it's a ball bearing, if it doesn't stick to a magnet, what metals am i looking at?

Musket balls were commonly made from lead which if im not mistaken(which i absolutely could be, never took chemistry) is non magnetic. So it still could easily be a musket ball.

RozDev · 23-10-2009 7:23pm

This above item I believe to be cannon buckshot

During battles when infantry got close to the cannons they would change from a single cannonball, to cannon buckshot which would constist of a 'scoop' of these ball bearings approixmately 25-30 of then.

Loaded into a cannon and fired they were a very effect weapon against advancing infantry.

If you have found a handful at a site, undoubtly there will be more.

The are not a musketball, the high temperatures cannons operated at prevented them from using lead, instead they manufactured them from a mixture of pig iron, copper and brass. Hence the deep green patina on them.

Try not to shine them up too much, as they will loose there intrinsic appeal if cleaned to heavily.

AudreyHepburn · 02-11-2009 5:22pm

The size of it would suggest it's a musket shot rather than something out of cannon. I've seen plenty of images of musket shots and they are this small round dark type with a little dint in them.

diggerdelly · 12-11-2009 11:51am

I would agree with the above and say it is definately a shot of some type. Take it to the museum or I know two guys who know a lot about military if you want a better identification.

pork99 · 08-01-2010 3:21pm

RozDev wrote: »

This above item I believe to be cannon buckshot

During battles when infantry got close to the cannons they would change from a single cannonball, to cannon buckshot which would constist of a 'scoop' of these ball bearings approixmately 25-30 of then.

Loaded into a cannon and fired they were a very effect weapon against advancing infantry.

If you have found a handful at a site, undoubtly there will be more.

At the time that was known as "grapeshot" which was loaded into cannons in cylindrical canvas bags or "Canister shot" which was loaded in metal cases.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/nelson/viewObject.cfm?ID=KTP1094

Grape shot ready for loading from http://www.americanrevolution.org/artillery.html

Doozie · 09-01-2010 2:22am

Nebit wrote: »

hand it to the museum, you'll be credited and they'd tell you what it is.
it looks like some type of ammunition anyways.

Well, you'll be credited if they exhibit it. Legally, if its an artefact, you are obliged to hand it in. The museum are very happy identify and advise you otherwise.
well done.

gravensteen · 14-01-2010 6:32pm

Could be lead shot. I've dug up lead shot (from a rifle, usually late 19th, early 20th century rifle, British Army standard issue) and when that hits something hard, it can dent.

James Bong 79 · 26-02-2010 2:00pm

7 up bottle cap????

Anyone know what this is?

Comments