Metal Detecting Project Update

[schoolofhardNox]

First off, Happy Independence Day for those of us in the USA.  I have been fairly busy doing a war project for the last 8 weeks (14 visits) with little to show for my 4-5 hour round trip. In those 14 visits I have only managed to find 12 round ball. This is a major engagement with the British and loyalists vs the Americans. There should be a boatload of large round ball and also a lot of cannon fire. Unfortunately detectorists have been hammering almost every house along the main drag and other "known" locations along the battle route. Add to the fact that we are looking at some really well kept properties that have over the years had their lawns filled with top soil or otherwise beautified in some manner. Further complicating thing is the fact that almost everyone has an electric dog fence 🙄 I've been on a lot of projects over the past 15 years and this one is surely the hardest. Coming off last years project where we found over 800 round ball, this was an eye opener. But yesterday changed my luck for at least that day. 😄 No more digging in swampy areas or in dirt filled yards. Yesterday, I was in one of those yards and was using the Manticore at a reduced sensitivity as to be able to hunt over the chatter from a live dog fence. I was digging anything that seemed to even remotely sound non ferrous, and dug down 9" on a really crappy signal and was rewarded with an American round ball (around .66 caliber). I was shocked that the target turned out to be that. No where near the 52 TID that it should have read if I was in a better EMI situation. But as everyone gathered around, I probed the hole for more targets and it sounded out. The rest is history 🥰Got to love this hobby!!!!

[F350Platinum]

Happy Independence Day School! 🎆 🦅🇺🇸

Good on you for putting all that time in, at least you were rewarded...

Somewhat. 🤔🫤

How big are the large rounds? I have an area some might be in, dug a 12 pounder there. 

Always better to come away with something!

[schoolofhardNox]

19 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Happy Independence Day School! 🎆 🦅🇺🇸

Good on you for putting all that time in, at least you were rewarded...

Somewhat. 🤔🫤

How big are the large rounds? I have an area some might be in, dug a 12 pounder there. 

Always better to come away with something!

Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the day. I think the smaller stuff is around a 3 pound ball and maybe some are larger as well. There are plenty of town people that say they dug cannon balls in their yards, but I haven't seen any one of them 🤔 At least now I know I am in a yard that has potential. The bad news is that I may have to go pulse and dig almost every signal. My ferrous to non ferrous ratio is about to explode 😌

[F350Platinum]

18 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the day.

Absolutely brutal, Chase met me there. No wind and high pollution for some reason, despite being 64 when I started, I couldn't stay out there more than 3-4 hours. 😵 We both got dehydrated and dizzy. 🤬

Want that cannonball I found? It's a 12 pounder from the Revolution or the War of 1812, I found it about 250 feet from the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Potomac. 🤣 Probably American, no arrow. Could be Spanish.

It'll only cost about $100 to ship... 😬

[rvpopeye]

 

With the previous detector hammering , electric doggie fences , swamps , landscaping you did a lot of work for that handful of balls SOHN !   

And still finding what you're looking for in spite of it all is a good day !  WTG 🤗 

 

[schoolofhardNox]

21 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Absolutely brutal, Chase met me there. No wind and high pollution for some reason, despite being 64 when I started, I couldn't stay out there more than 3-4 hours. 😵 We both got dehydrated and dizzy. 🤬

Want that cannonball I found? It's a 12 pounder from the Revolution or the War of 1812, I found it about 250 feet from the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Potomac. 🤣 Probably American, no arrow. Could be Spanish.

It'll only cost about $100 to ship... 😬

Wow that turned out differently than you thought it would. Probably better that you left and not stayed. Thanks for the offer but a man and his cannonball shouldn't be separated 😄 Bad Karma. Must have been fun digging that and lugging it to the truck. 

8 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

 

With the previous detector hammering , electric doggie fences , swamps , landscaping you did a lot of work for that handful of balls SOHN !   

And still finding what you're looking for in spite of it all is a good day !  WTG 🤗 

 

Thanks. Saved by luck at the end of the day. 😏 But when I get back there, I'll be hitting that area hard. You have to beg for quality targets no matter what machine you use. 

[F350Platinum]

17 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

Must have been fun digging that and lugging it to the truck. 

At first I was worried that it might have been Civil War era, and might have a fuse. 😬 Left it in the field for a couple weeks to wash some of the dirt off it. When I was certain it was solid shot, I brought it home and soaked it in vinegar for a while to get rid of some of the rust.