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Cannonballs - Not Worth Dying For


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“As proven today, the finding of military ordnance from the Civil War is not uncommon in Maryland, and these devices pose the same threat as the day they were initially manufactured,” the fire marshal’s office said. People are encouraged to report such discoveries to the authorities and remember that even vintage artifacts can be deadly. In 2008, a man who collected Civil War relics died after a cannonball he was attempting to restore exploded.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bomb-squad-detonates-civil-war-cannonball-found-maryland-n1262276

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This is serious stuff for sure, I didn't know Sam White(the man who died in 2008) personally but I do know several of his friends, and as stated in the article about his death he was a pro at disarming and restoring these CW cannonballs and was the man in the N.E. USA to go too if you found one, it just goes to show even the experts can make a mistake.

When these cannon balls were new it was still dangerous to disarm one but it was much easier, all you had to do was carefully remove the fuse with a special tool and then remove the black powder.

But after these cannon balls have been in the ground for over 100 years the fuse is so corroded that is no longer an option, the only way to remove the black powder is to drill a hole to remove the black powder, that as you can imagine is very dangerous, one little spark or over heating the metal leads to the powder igniting, which is what most think that happened to Sam on that tragic day he lost his life.

Sam drilled the cannon balls with a drill press in his garage and has done well over a 1000 with no issues, but the odds ran out on him on that day he lost his life.

There's one other guy I know of who does this as well and I think that maybe Steve H. knows him as well...Steve Phillips of SSD (Southern Skin Divers Supplies) in Alabama, Steve is a long time collector of CW artifacts and has an extensive collection most of if not all he has found himself while diving and metal detecting in Alabama, he's also a long, long time Nome gold dredger, which is where Steve H. may know him from.

http://ssdsupply.com/

Steve disarms these cannon balls using a "remote controlled" drill press he designed himself and in small shed out in the middle of a large field so if the cannon ball does explode while he's drilling it(which I don't believe has ever happened to him) no one get injured or dies.

That all being said it best to not even touch one if you happen across one, call the local police immediately!!

 

 

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5 hours ago, Gold Seeker said:

This is serious stuff for sure, I didn't know Sam White(the man who died in 2008) personally but I do know several of his friends, and as stated in the article about his death he was a pro at disarming and restoring these CW cannonballs and was the man in the N.E. USA to go too if you found one, it just goes to show even the experts can make a mistake.

When these cannon balls were new it was still dangerous to disarm one but it was much easier, all you had to do was carefully remove the fuse with a special tool and then remove the black powder.

But after these cannon balls have been in the ground for over 100 years the fuse is so corroded that is no longer an option, the only way to remove the black powder is to drill a hole to remove the black powder, that as you can imagine is very dangerous, one little spark or over heating the metal leads to the powder igniting, which is what most think that happened to Sam on that tragic day he lost his life.

Sam drilled the cannon balls with a drill press in his garage and has done well over a 1000 with no issues, but the odds ran out on him on that day he lost his life.

There's one other guy I know of who does this as well and I think that maybe Steve H. knows him as well...Steve Phillips of SSD (Southern Skin Divers Supplies) in Alabama, Steve is a long time collector of CW artifacts and has an extensive collection most of if not all he has found himself while diving and metal detecting in Alabama, he's also a long, long time Nome gold dredger, which is where Steve H. may know him from.

http://ssdsupply.com/

Steve disarms these cannon balls using a "remote controlled" drill press he designed himself and in small shed out in the middle of a large field so if the cannon ball does explode while he's drilling it(which I don't believe has ever happened to him) no one get injured or dies.

That all being said it best to not even touch one if you happen across one, call the local police immediately!!

 

 

All unexploded ordinance (UXO) disarming operations I’ve seen used a automatic or remotely controlled saw, drill, or a disruptor device to disarm shells, in addition to sandbagging. They can be quite simple devices too- one team used a standard miter saw with a cable and overhead pulley to lift and lower the blade remotely. I am surprised to read that guy didn’t do this correctly with the civil war shells he was disarming. How sad!  Steve’s warning is definitely one to be heeded!  One issue in our area are the scrappers that trespass onto the desert proving grounds  to collect old brass- several have tried cutting it up at home and popping it by accident.  Darwinian selection usually weeds them out from the gene pool pretty quickly.

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  Unexploded shells occasionally turn up at the beaches around Ft. Pierce Fl. from WW2 practice runs! Same rules apply!

  And in Europe, they still find those 500 pounders dropped by the Germans, when renovating, or doing earth moving projects! Scary stuff!!👍👍

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15 hours ago, GotAU? said:

All unexploded ordinance (UXO) disarming operations I’ve seen used a automatic or remotely controlled saw, drill, or a disruptor device to disarm shells, in addition to sandbagging. They can be quite simple devices too- one team used a standard miter saw with a cable and overhead pulley to lift and lower the blade remotely. I am surprised to read that guy didn’t do this correctly with the civil war shells he was disarming. How sad!  Steve’s warning is definitely one to be heeded!  One issue in our area are the scrappers that trespass onto the desert proving grounds  to collect old brass- several have tried cutting it up at home and popping it by accident.  Darwinian selection usually weeds them out from the gene pool pretty quickly.

Sam not only should have been drilling them remotely...but he also shouldn't have been doing them in his garage, when it exploded shrapnel went into several of his neighbor's homes, windows shattered by the blast force, etc., some them hundreds of feet away fortunately no others were hurt.

 

The reason they drill them and not cut them open is because they are "restoring" them for collectors or their own collections.

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Yes, this thread is a good reminder that unexploded ordinance from a century or more ago, can still pose a lethal threat.

A friend and fellow metal detectorist was on a Delaware beach some years ago, and found some unexplosed ordinance. I believe the beach was used as a military test range during WWII.

Authorities came quickly, closed the beach and kept it closed for  days, while they swept the area for more. The article was in the local paper, along with his name. He said a lot of people were upset that their beach plans were spoiled by his discovery. I wonder what would have been said, if something like that had actually detonated, or if someone else found it, and said nothing.

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Saw a few WW2 shells being disarmed. We were all young and stupid less than 30 yr old. They were  about a foot long and just abandon in the jungle in PNG not far from Guadalcanal back in the early 1970's.

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