- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Location
- Waynesboro, Virginia
Artillery newby here. Can someone explain to me what a sabot is? I assume the t is silent. How is it used and what does it do. If you have photos that would be great.
Kill two birds with one stone. I am interested in that also. Never heard of one.And while someone is answering Virginia Dave about the sabot they can inform me what a Tennessee
Sabot is. I asked this question last week and have yet to receive an answer.
A sabot is soft metal (lead, copper or iron being the most popular) placed on a rifled shell/bolt (either sides or bottom) to enable the soft metal to engage the rifling and cause the shell/bolt to spin. On a sphericial ball/shell it is the wooden block that is on the bottom of the ball and held there by metal straps which places the fuze to the front of the gun where it can be ignited. The Tennessee sabot is a loose term applied primarily to Mullane shells which refers to a copper plate held to the body of the shell/bolt by a bolt-this enables the shell/bolt to engage the threads of the rifling. I'm unable to post pictures at this time, but try www.civilwarartillery.com and you'll see what I mean.View attachment 345431Top right-Tennessee Sabot Middle row-various sabots Bottom-"thrown" (discarded) sabots.. Photo by author's collections.View attachment 345433
A sabot is soft metal (lead, copper or iron being the most popular) placed on a rifled shell/bolt (either sides or bottom) to enable the soft metal to engage the rifling and cause the shell/bolt to spin. On a sphericial ball/shell it is the wooden block that is on the bottom of the ball and held there by metal straps which places the fuze to the front of the gun where it can be ignited. The Tennessee sabot is a loose term applied primarily to Mullane shells which refers to a copper plate held to the body of the shell/bolt by a bolt-this enables the shell/bolt to engage the threads of the rifling. I'm unable to post pictures at this time, but try www.civilwarartillery.com and you'll see what I mean.View attachment 345431Top right-Tennessee Sabot Middle row-various sabots Bottom-"thrown" (discarded) sabots.. Photo by author's collections.View attachment 345433
Questions help the questioner and the answerer-it helps keep the ole wheels turning.Thank you for the link. It has great information there. I will be spending more time there before I ask more questions. Thanks again.
Are these your shells?A sabot is soft metal (lead, copper or iron being the most popular) placed on a rifled shell/bolt (either sides or bottom) to enable the soft metal to engage the rifling and cause the shell/bolt to spin. On a sphericial ball/shell it is the wooden block that is on the bottom of the ball and held there by metal straps which places the fuze to the front of the gun where it can be ignited. The Tennessee sabot is a loose term applied primarily to Mullane shells which refers to a copper plate held to the body of the shell/bolt by a bolt-this enables the shell/bolt to engage the threads of the rifling. I'm unable to post pictures at this time, but try www.civilwarartillery.com and you'll see what I mean.View attachment 345431Top right-Tennessee Sabot Middle row-various sabots Bottom-"thrown" (discarded) sabots.. Photo by author's collections.View attachment 345433
Very nice and educational post, thank you. Wiki also has a big article on sabots. Wish I could read your illustration, which I cannot find at your cited link.A sabot is soft metal (lead, copper or iron being the most popular) placed on a rifled shell/bolt (either sides or bottom) to enable the soft metal to engage the rifling and cause the shell/bolt to spin. On a sphericial ball/shell it is the wooden block that is on the bottom of the ball and held there by metal straps which places the fuze to the front of the gun where it can be ignited. The Tennessee sabot is a loose term applied primarily to Mullane shells which refers to a copper plate held to the body of the shell/bolt by a bolt-this enables the shell/bolt to engage the threads of the rifling. I'm unable to post pictures at this time, but try www.civilwarartillery.com and you'll see what I mean.View attachment 345431Top right-Tennessee Sabot Middle row-various sabots Bottom-"thrown" (discarded) sabots.. Photo by author's collections.View attachment 345433
YesAre these your shells?
On modern shells (other than the disappearing sabot ones), they are referred to as "Driving Bands".There's also a modern usage which applies to high-velocity guns, mainly on tanks, to increase velocity and armor penetration. We might see for example a 105mm sabot enclosing a 40mm dartlike projectile, often of dense metal like depleted uranium. The sabot falls off as soon as it clears the barrel. Basically it has the "push" of a 105 behind the 40mm penetrator, giving it extremely high velocity.
I got it out of an old reference book and basically the bottom row are the sabots, the middle row are the projectile's view(s) from above showing the retaining bands (or ball cross sections) and the top row is the entire projectile including the powder bag.Very nice and educational post, thank you. Wiki also has a big article on sabots. Wish I could read your illustration, which I cannot find at your cited link.
Where is the sabot? Maybe the big grey part?Here is the only one I have ever fired. The 120mm FSDS round
View attachment 345468