Solid shot cannon balls and cylindrical rifled cannon shells were made of cast iron in the 1860's. Cannister shot was made from tin alloyed cans filled with lead or iron shot.
Production years,sophistication of contents and casting technique, sometimes different metallic composition. Civil War cannonballs many times were shot a further distance,due to greater technology in...
The most common cannonball was 12 pounds. Other sizes were used as well. Many of the Confederate cannon, early in the war, were 3 or 6 pound brass cannon because of a lack of large-scale iron forges...
The longest range cannon fired several miles. The great majority of cannon were 10 and 20 pound muzzle loaders called Parrot Rifles with a typical range of about 2 miles (3,000 - 3,500 yards) firing...