CROSS SECTION OF A CONFEDERATE 12 POUND CASE SHOT LEAD SIDE-LOAD ARTILLERY SHELL

Stiles/Akin

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CROSS SECTION OF A CONFEDERATE 12 POUND CASE SHOT LEAD SIDE-LOAD ARTILLERY SHELL

The process used to construct this example is as follows:
After the casting was removed from the mold, the fuze and side-loader holes were finished and threaded, a dowel was inserted into the fuze hole to the opposite side, and the iron balls were inserted through the side-loader hole, followed by hot matrix.
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After the matrix cooled the dowel was removed, leaving a space for the bursting charge. Compared to canister, case-shot projectiles had a greater effective range when used as an anti-personnel weapon.

Such shells were used in every theater during the war.

Photo and info courtesy CivilWarArtillery.com
 
Nice post.

Most all case shot containing iron shot, as the one pictured above, were Confederate manufactured. This was due to lead shortages later in the war.

Below is a picture of a cross section of a 12-pounder I found several years ago and had cut in two. It is a Confederate round filled with lead balls instead of iron, meaning (among other reasons) it was likely manufactured in early 1862.

Notice that it does not have a side loader. Because the balls were lead, a drill could simply be inserted into the fuse hole and then forced through the lead balls to create the powder chamber - a method not possible with iron balls.

This specimen contains a Union-manufactured Bormann fuse.

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Is the metal plug underneath the Bormann fuze iron or bronze?

The plug underneath the Boreman was iron. Below is one I found at Vicksburg years ago with an iron side loader plug.
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Is the metal plug underneath the Bormann fuze iron or bronze?
The fuse plug in the projectile I pictured is iron. However, most Confederate under plugs were made of brass (I don’t think bronze, or even copper, but I could be wrong). The same applies to the moisture seal disk. The seal disk in mine is also iron which are all somewhat uncommon for CS-manufactured projectiles.
 
In the later years of the CW in the South brass and lead were in a short supply so iron had to be substituted. Most of the early war side-loaders had brass all the way around.
 
As an example, here is another case shot found a few feet from the other I posted. Notice the typical (for CS) brass underplug and the brass seal disk (barely visible above the under plug). Also, this one contains a sulphur matrix whereas the other one I posted has a tar matrix.

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Very neat! However, how do you know those balls are not canister rounds? Were they still with, or attached to, that fragment? Just curious...
 
Very neat! However, how do you know those balls are not canister rounds? Were they still with, or attached to, that fragment? Just curious...
too small for Cannister, I wish they were. Plus I have found as you can see different sized balls, Canister were the same size. They were not found with that piece of frag, but it was found in the same general area.
 
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