Cannonball question

[Will M]

Possibly my premise is incorrect but if such a cannon ball (not more modern artillery) has not detonated in 200 years it's unlikely to do so now with normal handling. I just can't prescribe to dumping into lakes due to the unknown and fear driving the decision.
I do have a solid 24 pounder with broad arrow dug not far from Montreal on a small island where a fort was. The only time the British fired on it was in 1760.
L to R is a 32, 12, 24 hollow and 24 solid with broad arrow. The small one behind the 12 pdr was found in a bag of coffee beans in the 70's and given to my uncle who was then president of Nabob and subsequently given to me.
The 12 pdr sits on a slice of Leopard 1 barrel, 105mm

[M ELEY]

I see your point, Will. What I meant was to be careful if deciding to cut into the casing itself. This is a popular action that both museums and some collectors do, to actually show the interior of the shell. When curators do it, however, it is a carefully done and safe practice involved. That being said, I have little doubt that if I threw my old grenade into a campfire, we would be celebrating the 4th of July here early!

Very nice collection, BTW! I'd love to own that broad arrow example!

[fernando]

Cutting a cannon ball in halves would never be my cup of tea. Something different would be to acquire a good fragment of a bursted grenade.
I have a reasonable collection of these things and never had one still loaded. The only time i dug some contents from a 5 1/2" howitzer grenade i found no more than some residuals.
I wonder if when the Brits came over for the Peninsular war (also) brought artillery ammunition; the examples i have from that period are not marked and are potentially Portuguese ... or some French.
The ones i have with marks are a 15 HJH 75 (Herzog Julius Hütte) dated 1575 and a XVI-XVII century German clay grenade; the picture shown has a replica fuse; the proper one, not the original but a similar one offered by Michael (Matchlock) is too fragile and kept in a small acrylic case.
The first and second ones in the first picture are stone 'pelouros', a German XIV-XVI century 17 pfund limestone and a Portuguese XVI century granite weighing 18 arratles. Number #3 and #5 are XVIII century 6" and 51/2" howitzer grenades later used in the Peninsular war. The second one in the second picture (set) is one of many hand made by Peter Pögl for King Maximilian.


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[P14]

Thanks for all your help and an interesting discussion. Mystery solved, and I’m relieved I don’t have a shrapnel shell/ grenade.
As far as I understand, provided black powder is kept dry and sealed from the air there’s no reason why it won’t work, even if its 300 years old. I don’t think it decomposes by itself.
Nice collections. Fernando, what is your fuse in the acrylic box made of? Is it like hemp match, the sort used for matchlock musket?

[adrian]

Some very nice projectiles there Will & Fernando.

I was unable to post photos of my collection yesterday, trying again this morning:

[fernando]

Originally Posted by adrian

Some very nice projectiles there Will & Fernando.

Thank you Adrian .

[fernando]

Originally Posted by P14

... Fernando, what is your fuse in the acrylic box made of? Is it like hemp match, the sort used for matchlock musket?

I wasn't clear enough. The clay grenade wooden fuse was shown in the bottom of post #7.
The item shown in recent post #23 is in fact a portion of XV-XVI century haquebut matchcord 'Luntenstrick', also offered by the late Michael Trömner (deceased illustreous member 'Matchlock').