A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
| Ridgeway Civil War Research Center,
A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War |
| Civil War Artillery | |
| by Harry Ridgeway |
| Rifled artillery projectile, Parrott design, Federal manufacture, hollow shot bolt, pattern with "flat top", high band brass sabot with 10 rabbets, Parrott 100 pounder rifle, 6.4in. Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following development of Parrott's patent. The sabot, referred to as "type II", utilized a thin wide brass band which was softer and more flexible than wrought iron, secured to the base with 10 rabbets. However performance was poor, the thin soft brass sabot either failed to take the rifling or had a tendency to separate on firing, resulting in shards of brass flying into the backs of the forward infantry. However for large caliber guns, fired from ships or forts, flying sabots was less of a problem and this pattern of sabot became the primary convention for siege guns. This bolt is cast with a hollow cavity, threaded hole on bottom was plugged to close the core after casting. The purpose is not entirely clear, perhaps the lighter bolt would have longer effective firing range. Projectile measures: diameter 6.25in., length 13in., weight 75lbs. Research Center: Artillery4713-Parrott, Ref: Bell Heavy Ordnance, pg. 291.     Details click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery4713-Parrott.html. |
A2549...Rifled artillery projectile, Parrott design, Federal manufacture, hollow shot bolt, pattern with "flat top", high band brass sabot with 10 rabbets, Parrott 100 pounder rifle, 6.4in.
  Projectile was manufactured in the Federal arsenals following development of Parrott's patent. The sabot, referred to as "type II", utilized a thin wide brass band which was softer and more flexible than wrought iron, secured to the base with 10 rabbets. However performance was poor, the thin soft brass sabot either failed to take the rifling or had a tendency to separate on firing, resulting in shards of brass flying into the backs of the forward infantry. However for large caliber guns, fired from ships or forts, flying sabots was less of a problem and this pattern of sabot became the primary convention for siege guns. This bolt is cast with a hollow cavity, threaded hole on bottom was plugged to close the core after casting. The purpose is not entirely clear, perhaps the lighter bolt would have longer effective firing range. Projectile measures: diameter 6.25in., length 13in., weight 75lbs. High band sabot separated on firing. Metal quality is solid, early pickup, missing the sabot. There are two cut marks on the side, this may have been an attempt to expose the open core or to cut the bottom off, however it was too close to the bottom and did not penetrate the core. This was found in a very old Charleston, South Carolina collection of antiques, the cuts were fully rusted over and not observed until shell was cleaned. Whether shell was actually fired in the Charleston siege is not known, it is a rare pattern thought to have only been tested at Fort Fisher, but if that is the case why did it end up in Charleston? Projectile is disarmed, iron casting has a cavity but it could not have been filled with powder, projectile now is cut exposing empty cavity. Ref: Bell Heavy Ordnance, pg. 291. |
| Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War. Artillery Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html.     Research center, artillery, click: http://relicman.com/artillery/Artillery0000-Index.html. |
| Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway, Civil War artillery, Relicman sales catalog. Click here: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html.     Artillery for sale: http://relicman.com/artillery/RelicmanSalesArtillery1.html. |