Also known as: Britten projectile.
In the Half Shell Book: This subject is treated in Civil War Artillery Projectiles: The Half Shell Book, pp. 188-195.
| Class | British rifled projectile |
|---|---|
| Designer | Bashley Britten |
| Driving system | Lead coating and base sabot that expand into the rifling |
| Patents | British patents of 1855 and 1861 |
The lead-coated system
Bashley Britten's projectile united a coating of lead to the base of a cast-iron shell so that, when the gun fired, the lead expanded into the rifle grooves and was turned by the rifling to spin the shell. He fixed the lead to the iron by solder, zinc, or tin after cleaning the cast surface, and formed a sabot of lead at the base.
Britten set out the method in British patents of 1855 and 1861. Britten projectiles reached the war chiefly through imported and Confederate use, and are recognized by the lead-coated body and base sabot.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- Melton, Jack W., Jr. Civil War Artillery Projectiles: The Half Shell Book. Blue Ridge, GA: Historical Publications LLC, 2018.
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: projectile identification pages, manuals, and reports.
- Hackley, Frank W. Civil War Explosive Ordnance. Revised November 10, 1960. U.S. Naval School, Explosive Ordnance Disposal.