Civil war breech cannon

Big7mag

Cadet
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
Does anyone have any kind of info on this civil war breech cannon replica. I picked it up at a thrift store a few days ago. I literally have barely found any info on it. I believe it has some value but do not know what kind. Any info and value would be appreciated! Thanks!

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Firstly welcome from the UK and from The First Bull Run/ Manassas Forum

Secondly I am sure experts will be along shortly. However they may need a photo with less 'background clutter' to be able to identify what it is.

Thirdly I can tell you that it isnt a replica of the first breechloading cannon. Those were around (in primitive form) in at a minimum the 15th century.
 
Thanks for the welcome! It was a hefty $10. I was asking for info on another group and someone offered me 350. But I don’t want to sell because I find it interesting. However I would like to know the value but I know it’s also what someone is willing to pay.
 
Welcome from the Shiloh/Pittsburg Landing Forum and North Mississippi! Nice acquisition and be sure and visit the Forum.
Regards
David
 
Sorry it's not a copy of the Armstrong at all. The only similarity is in the handles
My apologies, I was going to attach my photo of the forward 110pdr on Warrior to illustrate the point, but didn't have it to hand. Here it is - this is a glass fibre copy of the original gun by the way. It is so good you can operate the breech. The original gun, which was one of Warrior's warrant is now part of the States of Jersey War Memorial.
110pdr Armstrong BLR. HMS Warrior. (2).jpg
 
It does not have any bearing on this gun ,but the following may be of interest:
CSN Secretary Mallory and John M Brooke were familiar with the latest ordnance developments abroad, so much so that John Clark &Co had been contracted by either Mallory or Brooke (Although there is no mention of it in Brooke's diaries) to "make an Armstrong gun”. Given the date this can only have been a copy of the breech loader, possibly the 7” 110pdr, drawings of which had been published in “The Engineer”.
This goes some way to explain the apparent anomaly in I.M.Iven's tower ship proposal in that the tower seemed to be too small in diameter to fit two muzzle loading guns - but not if they were intended to be breechloaders.
The company set up two air furnaces and a tilt hammer for the purpose, which were actually used to forge the 40ft wing shafts for Mississippi, and the screw shafts for Louisiana. For this reason, no work, so far as is known was done on the gun.
 
First welcome and thanks for starting this thread. I know very little about Confederate artillery but just from looking at this thread could Big7mag's gun be a copy of a Confederate attempt to build a breech loading cannon from descriptions of the Armstrong gun?
 
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