A cannonball ... a pommel ... or what ?

M ELEY · 24th December 2012, 04:54 AM

Very interesting piece, whatever it is. I doubt that it is a swivel shot, although they did fire solid projectiles up to a 2lb cannon ball size (the kind favored by the colonists during the Amer Rev. Most swivels on ships and on fort walls fired a form of pigeon shot, like buck shot) The problem is that it isn't smooth. As pointed out time and again by the cannon enthusiasts (who are far more adapt than me in this area), to be fired from a cylindrical tube, it had to be smooth. Remember that ovoid ball we discussed in the past?

It still might be a grapeshot, as these were in another container and therefore didn't have to be completely smooth. The lead 'shot towers' I mentioned in past posts where the lead was literally poured from a tower's top into a water basin formed less than perfect grapeshot, but again, it was encased in something else. This item, encased with many others in a carcass or shell would create nasty wounds for sure.

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24th December 2012, 04:54 AM	#3
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Very interesting piece, whatever it is. I doubt that it is a swivel shot, although they did fire solid projectiles up to a 2lb cannon ball size (the kind favored by the colonists during the Amer Rev. Most swivels on ships and on fort walls fired a form of pigeon shot, like buck shot) The problem is that it isn't smooth. As pointed out time and again by the cannon enthusiasts (who are far more adapt than me in this area), to be fired from a cylindrical tube, it had to be smooth. Remember that ovoid ball we discussed in the past? It still might be a grapeshot, as these were in another container and therefore didn't have to be completely smooth. The lead 'shot towers' I mentioned in past posts where the lead was literally poured from a tower's top into a water basin formed less than perfect grapeshot, but again, it was encased in something else. This item, encased with many others in a carcass or shell would create nasty wounds for sure.