15.5 lb solid lead ball dug up in Colorado

[4V50 Gary]

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.

[Model12Win]

Source?

[Hawg]

I can't find anything about it online.

[Double Naught Spy]

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.

[4V50 Gary]

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.

[Dufus]

I would bet that Wyosmith could build something that would shoot it.

[FrontierGander]

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.

[Double Naught Spy]

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.

[Hawg]

Lead would have white oxide on it. Easily identified. It might be a counterweight.

[4V50 Gary]

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.

[Smoke & Recoil]

Pictures ?

[Hellgate]

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.

[Hawg]

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.

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.

[Model12Win]

I'd melt it and run ball for your guns.

Ain't no use in such a large form.

[4V50 Gary]

Magnets don't stick to it. It has white oxidation. No rust.

[Double Naught Spy]

So no pics or link?

[4V50 Gary]

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.

[James K]

It has nothing to do with guns, and is probably iron, not lead. They were used in huge tumblers to crush ore.

Jim

[Double Naught Spy]

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.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

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?

[mete]

Reading about the Spanish in the SW a battle site I saw a COPPER ball ! But they explained the reason. The Spanish were in the New World mostly for silver . Silver is often accompanied by copper . They wanted silver so they refined out the copper. Looking for a use for copper they found one --cannon balls !!

[T. O'Heir]

"...Could it be..." No. Everybody's solid shot was iron.
A lead ball probably has more to do with local coal mining than anything to do with things that go bang.

[4V50 Gary]

First cannon balls were carved from stone. Then lead was briefly used. Cast iron replaced that. Then hollow cast iron filled with black powder for shells.

What would a coal mine do with lead balls? Counterweight for something? What?

[Pahoo]

When I lived in Colorado, I worked at two ore mills and know that balls of different materials were widely used. Depends on what ore or substance that needs to be crushed. The balls went into a large rotating drum and eventually wear down. ....

Be Safe !!!

[bedbugbilly]

It sounds to me like a rolling mill ball used crush the ore as has already been stated. We used to have a cement plant not too far away from where I live in MI. They used iron balls in their rolling mills.

As far as lead and a coal mine - I'm not a coal miner but i would suspect that if they used led balls in a rolling mill it would be to prevent sparks which could easily ignite coal dust - lead balls don't spark.

While lead cannon balls might have possibly been used at the onset of cannons, I highly doubt that what you have is a cannon ball. As mentioned, transporting lead cannon balls would certain de-form them to where they would not go down the bore. I have shot a number of Civil war cannon (live fire) - and we had a 10 pound smoothbore Parrott (South Bend Replica) - we cast and sued aluminum round balls in it. Any slight variation in "roundness" could cause it to hang up in the bore when introducing the projectile in to the bore.

And, I agree - if it was used for ballast or weight, cast in square or rectangular shape would be more workable and decrease the space needed for the placement of it. One might think of a "dual purpose" - i.e. cannon ball that could be melted down and cast in to balls, but again, that doesn't seem feasible. It would make more sense that they would use lead for a dual purpose such as was used on the Lewis & Clarke Expedition where sheet lead was used to construct waterproof gunpowder containers and once the powder emptied out of them, they could be cut up and cast in to balls.

Interesting though and I hope you get it figured out.