Artillery ammunition was not serial numbered, not then and not now. Like other ammuntion, it is expendable and record keeping by serial number would be a tremendous waste of time.
Do cannonballs have markings?
Stamp Marks: Most authentic Civil War cannonballs have no stamped numbers or letters on them. Old sports Shot Puts frequently have the numbers: 6, 8, 12 or 16 stamped on them or their metric weight equivalent for more modern Puts. These stamps represent their sports weight classification.
What are the 4 types of cannonballs?
Allegheny Arsenal continued producing four types of cannonballs: Solid iron balls (solid shot), clusters or cans of small iron or lead balls (known as case shot, grapeshot or canister), exploding iron balls filled with lead shrapnel (spherical case shot) and hollow iron exploding balls (shells).
How much are old cannonballs worth?
Johnson said the mortar ball is likely worth between $600 and $800 or more depending on where it was manufactured.
What size cannon balls were used in the Civil War?
During the civil war, the average cannonball size was 12lbs or 5.4kg. The 12lbs Napoleon field gun being very common. Standardized cannonball weights were 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 32, and 42.
What does a cannonball weigh?
“Borgard is credited with standardising on the cannonball weights of 4lb, 6lb, 9lb, 12lb, 18lb, 24lb, 32lb, and 42lb (where ‘lb’ denotes pounds 1lb = 0.45kg).
Mass of a Cannonball.
| Mass of Iron Sphere (lb) | Diameter (in) |
|---|---|
| 6 | 3.43 |
| 9 | 3.93 |
| 12 | 4.32 |
| 18 | 4.95 |
Did they have exploding cannonballs in the Revolutionary war?
Typical artillery pieces with a crew of around ten men could fire cannon at an average of four times per minute. They fired a variety of projectiles including solid shot, explosive-filled cannon balls, large diameter grapeshot, smaller diameter cannister shot, various shrapnel shells, and chain shot.
Will a magnet stick to a cannonball?
If they are actually steel, a magnet will stick to them. Kids used to use steel ball bearings as sling shot ammo.
What size were cannon balls?
They are about 2 inches in diameter. Small iron (C) and lead (D) balls that are 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter came from the ship. They probably were used as grape or canister shot.
Did cannons have explosive rounds?
Muzzle-loading artillery (which includes cannon) did exist which fired exploding projectiles. However, by definition, a cannon ball is solid metal all the way through, no explosive chemicals inside.
How much would a Civil War cannon cost?
A bronze Confederate cannon scarred in battle might sell for $200,000. A 1-ton iron mortar might fetch $70,000 or more. Even the most run-of-the-mill Civil War cannon can be worth a good $20,000.
How do you stack cannon balls?
In war memorials with cannons and stacks of cannonballs, the cannonballs are sometimes stacked as a four-sided pyramid, with the base as a square of cannonballs with n balls on each side. An alternative is to stack them in a three-sided pyramid, which is in fact one of the Platonic solids, a tetrahedron.
How heavy were cannonballs during the Revolutionary war?
The standard land artillery drawn by horses, Beauregard said, wouldn’t get it done. Most of those launched cannonballs that weighed four or five pounds, 12 pounds max. A 25-pounder would have come from a water cannon — the kind you see in pirate movies.
How many cannons did the Confederates have?
Union batteries consisted of over 100 soldiers, armed with 6 cannon per battery. Confederate batteries were smaller, some having only 4 cannon.
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How many cannons did the Union have?
Those who fought at Gettysburg with rifles and carbines were supported by nearly 630 cannon—360 Union and 270 Confederate. About half of these were rifled iron pieces, all but four of the others were smoothbore bronze guns. The same types of cannon were used by both armies.
What caliber is a cannonball?
Explosive shells
| Caliber (mm) | Name | Produced |
|---|---|---|
| 520 | Obusier de 520 modèle 1916 | 1918 |
| 460 | 46 cm/45 Type 94 | 1940 |
| 457.2 | BL 18 inch railway howitzer | 1920 |
| 457.2 | BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun | 1916 |
What are small cannon balls called?
A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot.
How much does an 8 inch cannonball weigh?
Cannon Range Tables
| Descriptions of solid shot for smoothbore guns | ||
|---|---|---|
| Caliber designation | Bore Diameter in inches | Weight in pounds (Shot) |
| 32-Pdr. | 6.40 | 32.4 |
| 42-Pdr. | 7.0 | 42.5 |
| 8-inch | 8.0 | 65 |
What is the average speed of a cannonball?
It seems likely to be in between 250 and 100 m/s (250 m/s is about 820 feet per second). Of course this assumes the ball hit the first house without bouncing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did bounce.
When did they stop using cannonballs?
Round shot was used by naval guns during most of the age of sail, being replaced after the invention by Benjamin Robins [citation needed] of the extruded bullet around the mid-19th century. In land battles, round shot would often plough through many ranks of troops, causing multiple casualties.
How far could a cannon shoot in 1776?
Their range, depending upon gun elevation and service charge, was from 1,800 to 2,300 yards. When British ships attacking on June 28, 1776, anchored within 400 yards, the guns at Fort Sullivan could and did inflict serious damage.
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