Confederate (copy)

James Pattern I, Sub-pattern I

 

 

DIAMETER: 3.21 inches
GUN: 3.3-inch Confederate rifle
LENGTH: 7 3/4 inches
WEIGHT: 11 pounds 9 ounces
CONSTRUCTION: Solid shot
SABOT: Lead ring
FUZING: None
his pattern projectile was an attempt by the Confederates to copy the James Pattern I, Sub-pattern I, solid shot. Note that this pictured example is unfired with the lead ring intact. The projectile has a hollow base that allowed the explosive charge of the cannon to expand the lead ring into the grooves of the rifle. This Confederate James copy pattern is extremely rare, and is the only attempt made by the Confederates to copy the Federal James projectile pattern. The majority of the recovered specimens have come from the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee. Leeds and Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, delivered to the Confederate Ordnance Department a total of seventeen bronze 3.3-inch caliber rifled cannon between October 1861 and April 1862. A surviving example with five groove rifling, weighing 877 pounds, can be found at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.  To see an example with the sabot click here.