Editor in Chief Bill | 18 Nov 2019 1:33 p.m. PST |
I've just assumed over the years that cannonballs for the ACW should be painted black, but I've noticed someone else painting them brown, so I thought to ask… |
79thPA | 18 Nov 2019 1:39 p.m. PST |
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rustymusket | 18 Nov 2019 1:54 p.m. PST |
Mine are black, but there could be rust on them, I would suppose. |
JimDuncanUK | 18 Nov 2019 1:57 p.m. PST |
Black with a subtle highlight of gunmetal. |
Glengarry5 | 18 Nov 2019 2:02 p.m. PST |
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Jeff Ewing | 18 Nov 2019 2:54 p.m. PST |
I never thought about that. On the one hand it would probably be rare to shoot off the whole cassion, so some balls would sit around, probably rusting a bit. On the other hand, I feel as though the crew would probably oil them, or at least brush them off to reduce fouling. |
Ragbones | 18 Nov 2019 3:11 p.m. PST |
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14Bore | 18 Nov 2019 3:19 p.m. PST |
Gunmetal Interesting that in Patrick OBrian's series he often has the crew cleaning up canon balls scraping off rust which iron would do on the sea just sitting there. |
14Bore | 18 Nov 2019 3:22 p.m. PST |
I have a offer if anyone wants to make cannonball stacks I have tiny ceramic balls in a few sizes. Probably best for 25mm up but I made the smallest ones for 15mm. Just need to mail a little plastic baggie, no cost. |
Herkybird | 18 Nov 2019 3:31 p.m. PST |
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14Bore | 18 Nov 2019 5:09 p.m. PST |
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Extrabio1947 | 18 Nov 2019 5:50 p.m. PST |
According to regulations, Union iron artillery carriages were to be painted brown (wooden carriages were painted olive green). Perhaps that's where the idea of brown cannonballs came from? |
rmaker | 18 Nov 2019 6:45 p.m. PST |
According to the 1860 Ordnance Manual – black. Re: iron carriages. Early on (1820's), iron carriages were to be browned (NOT painted brown), but that proved to be expensive in both time and money and also not as rust-proof as had been thought, so they were painted black. |
Rudysnelson | 18 Nov 2019 7:11 p.m. PST |
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ninthdoc | 19 Nov 2019 5:19 a.m. PST |
EiC Bill, this is a very personal question and I'm offended. :P |
Frederick | 19 Nov 2019 6:50 a.m. PST |
Black with a dusting of gunmetal |
leidang | 19 Nov 2019 9:14 a.m. PST |
Black… Dark Grey light drybrush…. Brown ink |
Extrabio1947 | 19 Nov 2019 6:36 p.m. PST |
The 1862 Ordnance Manual specifies brown paint for iron carriages, and provides the formula. You will find it in Chapter 7, "Paints and Lackers." Different manuals, different years…. |
MrMagoo | 20 Nov 2019 2:46 p.m. PST |
Black with gunmetal dry-brushing. |
Trajanus | 15 Dec 2019 1:00 p.m. PST |
I have tiny ceramic balls No, no, no, I'm not gonna say it ! |
rabbit | 15 Mar 2020 4:43 a.m. PST |
If any of you have access to shotgun cartridges, cut one open and use the shot. #9 size pellets, used for skeet shooting are around 2mm in diameter. They look metallic, dont rust and don't need painting and you get circa 560 per ounce (27 grams)… You can find the diameter of different pellets online if you want larger pellets for your coehorn mortar batteries. smaller the number, bigger the pellets. |