I have a decent collection of US pre-Civil War artillery but sadly have not acquired any chain shot to this point. So I haven't held any besides Mike's to get a feel for them. I know a bit telling point on them is the chain construction. Chain for quite a number of decades has been welded links while early chain is made of hammered links. So if you can see the seam where the link is welded that would be a bad sign. Also the balls should be made of cast iron (not steel) and chain I would guess from wrought iron (no steel). Cast iron links would not hold up when fired. Better pics would help.
