Is This a Shell Sabot?

[skb8721]

Someone asked me today to identify this artifact sitting on a bookshelf because they really didn't know what it was. (See below images.)

My immediate reaction was, "It looks like a sabot! Of the type fitted to a conical shell so that it will catch the groove of a rifled cannon and spin, to improve range and accuracy."

But . . . I confess I'm not certain it is a sabot.

I partly doubt my own conclusion because the artifact in question was found near an old salt mine where there is plenty of old rusting metal to be found if one looks.

On the other hand, there was a small artillery engagement known to have occurred about a half-mile away (as it's mentioned in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies). However, the only projectiles known to have come from that "affair" (as it was classified) are one small cannonball and five or six pieces of grapeshot that have been dug up over the years.

What do you all think it is? (I'd say it's about 4 inches in diameter, by the way, but as you can see it's not exactly round, at least not anymore.)

 

[Youngblood]

It sure looks like a sabot skirt that has seen rifling.

Is it lead? Or brass/bronze?

 

[Si Klegg]

This relic site has some artifacts that look similar:

AR22 - Sabot Fragments - These are fragments of sabots from various shells. Some of these pieces have small shell fragments on them. The sizes vary (bullet shown for reference). The largest will go first. They are from the Richmond area. $5.00 each

http://btreasure.web.iglou.com/artillry.htm

 

[Seduzal]

I am no expert but this looks like a locking ring maybe used on a wagon wheel or a canon assembly.

 

[UCVRelics]

At first glance I thought it might be a Harding sabot but the lips to the flange doun't match. I will dig thru my books when I get home.

 

[skb8721]

I'll check tomorrow with a magnet and a metal-detector to see if I can get a bearing on what the object is made of, and will let you all know.

 

[skb8721]

I found this object described as a brass sabot for a Parrott shell:

And here's the one I examined in person:



They are similar but not identical: the one I examined in person has more than 8 protrusions (facing upwards in photos), while the known sabot shown at top has exactly 8 protrusions.

I did hold a strong magnet next to the object this morning, and there was no reaction: the object in question was not drawn to the magnet.

I then thought the object might be made of brass, which does not attract magnets. (It doesn't look like lead, and it's not soft like lead.) Yet, when I put the object on a grassy area (that my metal detector had just beforehand found to be sterile), my metal detector reacted to it as if it were "iron/foil". The manual for the detector explains "IRON/FOIL: All sizes of iron and
aluminum objects will register on the far-left side of the scale. This could indicate a worthless item such as a nail, or a more valuable historic iron relic."

One more bit of info: the object in question measures almost about 4 inches in outside diameter (though it's a little hard to measure it because the object has been bent and isn't perfectly circular).

So . . . I'm still unsure what to think.

 

[skb8721]

Well, it kinda fits this Parrott shell (found in a different location).

Note I polished a spot on the object, hoping to be able to tell if it was made of bronze or brass. But all I got was a shiny silver area. What kind of silver metal does not attract a magnet (as this metal does not in fact attract a magnet).

 

[redbob]

Brass is a composition of copper and zinc, neither one of which is magnetic.

 

[Youngblood]

Lead can be shinny and non magnetic. And lead was sometimes used as a shell sabot.