Before the Ball: Clod Shot of 1375 - the Earliest Lead Gun Ammunition!

[Matchlock]

And here are some extremely rare instances of iron clod shot of rectangular or many-sided shape, all 14th to 16th century and all cast in molds, and all covered with a leaden coating to protect the relatively 'soft' inner walls of bronze barrels.

Breaking the sharp edges of an iron clod was the easiest and closest approach to the ball shape. I own a 14-sided specimen of enormous weight and size that clearly shows traces of a two-piece mold (images to follow).


From Mary Rose (sunk in 1545) finds we know that Henry VIII's army used such lead-clad iron shot to break the oak rumps of ships in sea fights; they have been analyzed by neutron tomography and Roentgen rays (see attachments).
The two attachments showing iron cubes dug up together with fragments of bronze cannon and the bottom piece of a bronze wallgun barrel are most interesting!



Best,
Michael

[Matchlock]

I should add that I marked one word blue in the news magazine article: eingeschmolzen, meaning melted into the lead as an integral part.

This of course is complete rubbish, both semantically and technically/logically. After close inspection of about 25 of these items, a considerable number of which are in my own study collection, I can tell with authority that, in all probability, the lead coating was cold-hammered around the core of either stone or iron!


Best,
Michael

[Andi]

Don't you think that the newtron-tomographic and radiograpic images of the cannonballs from Mary Rose may also suggest that the lead ball could have been casted arund the iron core? The position of the iron core on the edge of one side of the lead ball indicates to me that it was casted and the iron clod was positioned outside of the centre while laying on the bottom of form. Even when i guess that an experienced metal caster should be able to produce balls with a centered core.

Or is it possible that the emphasis was intentially dislocated from the center of weight? - Bus this wouldn't make any sense to me.

[Matchlock]

Originally Posted by Andi

Don't you think that the newtron-tomographic and radiograpic images of the cannonballs from Mary Rose may also suggest that the lead ball could have been casted arund the iron core? The position of the iron core on the edge of one side of the lead ball indicates to me that it was casted and the iron clod was positioned outside of the centre while laying on the bottom of form. Even when i guess that an experienced metal caster should be able to produce balls with a centered core.

Or is it possible that the emphasis was intentially dislocated from the center of weight? - Bus this wouldn't make any sense to me.

Hi Andi,

There is of course more than one possibility how these iron cores could have been made.
All I can tell with authority is that mine was cast in a mold, and hammering them to such a smooth and perfect surface is just out of my mind (without intending to brag, I got a lot of smithing experience).
I will post images soon though.

Best,
Michael

[Matchlock]

The sample from collection, weighing 1 kg and very similar to the bottom image in post #28.

The traces where the mold halves joined are clearly visible, so it was cast.
It weighs 1.2 kg!

Any guesses what the central holes on the six larger sides might have been for?


Best,
Michael

[Marcus den toom]

I bought these pieces a few weeks ago from two seperet metal detector enthausiast.
The first three where found near a castle in Boxmeer, The Netherlands (south east, near the river Maas).

The first one weighs 58grams and has a diameter of 25,5mm when measured at the flatened side around the middle. This is the most likely bore caliber.

The second weighs 31grams and is 20mm in diameter.

The third has lost most of its stone core, but some smaller stones remain. It also weighs 58grams and has a diameter of 25mm. This one differs from the first one because the first one most likely has just one single piece of stone while the third has multiple smaller stones and woould have acted like shot. A X-ray of some sort could show more evidence.


The fourth piece was found near Deventer, TheNetherlands near the river Ijsel.
It weighs 61 grams and has a 24mm diameter.

[Andi]

Congratulations Marcus!
I also planned to reconstruct such type of ammunition but I am still not sure how to do it.... Are the pebbles cast into the lead or is the lead folded over the stones?

[Marcus den toom]

Hi Andi, thank you i am quit happy with them as well

The surface is mostly smooth with no overlapping lead, so i would say they where integrally cast. They probably selected stones or pieces of stone that would fit within a mould and put those pieces in the mould before pouring the lead in.

There are also a couple of lead balls with an iron core, made in what i supose is the same way. The pieces of metal are not al round, but seem to have corners apart from the heavy oxidation.

[Andi]

Dear Marcus

Thanks for your reply. That sounds logically to me, good to get it confirmed