Bullet and Shell Civil War Projectiles Forum

Author Topic: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt  (Read 8293 times)

callicles

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #15 on: June 13, 2017, 02:29:46 PM »
Thanks Woodenhead!

Since I'm not completely knowledgeable on the topic - not sure I understand the "square post" or "wedge cuts" aspects -  I post below the 3" Read bolt I recovered (Vicksburg Campaign) with its sabot (sabot was found many yards away) for clarification.  I would like to use some of your information in the description you posted for it in my display, but I certainly don't want to add information that does not apply to mine.  Do you mind telling me how mine fits in to your discussion?

The only things I know are that the sabot is an uncommon tall version, low-convex top and probably made in Selma.  Its 12 lands and grooves with left-hand twist was probably fired from a Confederate manufactured rifle.  The projectile's base knob is torn off. (All this information was given to me by Pete George after he looked over the very bad pictures I sent to him, so I am grateful to him for that knowledge.  I have what Pete said in written notes I made, so it is possible I misrepresented what he actually told me.  I hope not) 

Anyway, thanks and I hope you guys don't mind me posting the pics here.

 

alwion

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #16 on: June 14, 2017, 08:59:31 AM »
were the two holes in the sabot for pins like a mullane?

callicles

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2017, 12:10:07 PM »
Not sure about pins.  It has been suggested to me that the copper sabot was likely cast into the projectile's body by use of some sort of counter mold.

Woodenhead

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #18 on: June 14, 2017, 01:15:13 PM »
First of all, the sabot on the last pic I posted, the 2.9 inch Read-Parrott dug by Ridgeway, is copper. We have not seen those holes in iron sabots of field caliber ammunition.

To Alwion, the two holes in that copper Read sabot (most I have seen have 3 holes) are not for separate pins like a Mullane. Read illustrated and described these as an option in his patent write-up. Read wanted the molten iron to pass thru and lock the sabot in place like a bolt. He was mainly thinking about the big projectiles.  Read also described and illustrated the wedge cuts which would serve a similar purpose and also limit the tendency of the die-struck wrought iron to crimp. Remember, all Read sabots were supposed to be iron until the end of 1861 when the inventor formally announced the switch to copper. The bulbous iron base knob is missing from that latest dug Read. Big base knobs were also part of Read's patented design as they helped force the propellant charge laterally into the high-band sabot, thereby forcing it into the rifling grooves. These basic principles were ignored by the geniuses in Richmond. This, despite receiving samples and drawings from Read in late 1861. This despite an official memorandum from Col. Gorgas sent to all the arsenals in October 1861 announcing that the Read projectiles was to be officially adopted as the Army standard. I find all of this, and the many implications, both interesting and tragic. At the same time Dr. Read was busy in person setting up the Deep South foundries with what I would argue was the best field-size projectile of the war, North or South, the Richmond guys decided upon the terrible Mullane. This had dire consequences for the overall effectiveness of the CS field artillery and the likelihood of success by men in the field!

So, that last Read with the separate sabot was a true Read shell, like the previous example. Dr. Read had that mold pattern in Memphis and the die for striking your sabot. Those holes were added by direction of Read who set up the foundries in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi with his patterns. That sabot you dug is what a true Read sabot should look like. Everyone I have seen, and I have seen and photo'ed many, took the rifling grooves beautifully. Compare that sabot to the typical VA Mullane or Read sabot. Its not even close. Without a good spin from the rifling, distance firing with effect was impossible. The CS artillery would have been better off firing 6 and 12 pounders. At least they bounced.

No great quantities of field caliber Reads like yours were made during the war because many of the foundries were soon shut down by the Feds. Also, there was clearly no appreciation of the quality of those projectiles arranged by Dr. Read. The other foundries looked to Richmond for guidance. When the fighting intensified in the west during late 1862 and 1863, the armies were directed to get most of their shells from the Georgia foundries. Finally, Col. Raines realized something was terribly wrong with the field projectiles after extensive testing in late 1863. He reintroduced Read's high band copper sabot and tried many other improvements.

There's more to his story and we'll get into it in future postings. Enough for now.
Woodenhead

About the pics - here are two shells I dug that have typical VA sabots. The flush bolt Mullane from Chancellorsville was fired and has no trace of rifling. Even if it took the grooves, look at the narrow edge it presented for contact. The 3 inch Read I found at Fredericksburg hunting with Pete George. I believe it was fired because it was one of 3 salvaged shells. Not a trace of rifling on its thick cast copper sabot. Now, imagine both of these had your Actual Read sabot instead, as they should have. My God, D. H. Hill was right! The army was sabotaged by the ordnance people in Richmond.

alwion

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2017, 06:38:16 PM »
Thanks for the info . I find the above sabot to be terribly interesting, which means a shell with one will probably be way out of my budget:}

Woodenhead

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #20 on: June 15, 2017, 07:13:36 PM »
Not necessarily. I have seen these regularly at shows and shops for a wide range of prices - usually based upon condition and location. No one, it seems, treats them as anything other than another 'damn' Read. Only readers of this blog have any understanding of the fact that they are true Reads set up by the good Doctor himself. They are usually priced accordingly and now-days those prices can vary a lot. So keep your collector eyes open and I believe you'll get a deal.
Enclosed are photos of two of Dr. Read's "own" that I photographed at the Horse Soldier a couple of years ago. Look at those wonderful high-band copper sabots. They were from Corinth or some place in that area. I believe they are both 3.3 inch which was the standard field Rifle in the western theater during 1861. They gradually shifted to the 3 inch caliber. These shells were displayed with a bunch of mid-level to junk shells and priced accordingly. Note the huge air bubble in one of them which obscures what would have otherwise been Read's pronounced base knob. Probably means it was among the early batches made around spring 1862. It appears from the vouchers and other records that the production of Read's field patterns by the Deep South foundries had stopped completely by early-to-mid 1863. I will be buying these when I have had my fill of Mullanes and Read-Parrotts made by Samson & Pae.

alwion

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #21 on: June 17, 2017, 10:36:12 AM »
I have two 3.3" shells that have the knob in the pictures, were the two holes hidden under the knob then and not visible?

Woodenhead

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #22 on: June 17, 2017, 05:52:00 PM »
Made in advance, the die-struck copper sabot was positioned in the sand mold and then the molten iron poured in with the nose down. The founders expertly monitored the temperature of the iron, allowing it to cool sufficiently as it approached the sabot to ensure minimum melting. The two holes, three holes, wedge cuts or simple round interior (I've seen all of these on those early Reads) had already been punched when the basic sabot was struck into its "jar-lid" shape (as opposed to the Read-Parrott's cone shape). His 1856 patent called for some serious striking "by the use of male and female dies under a stamping press, which could be so arranged as to cut the discs and punch the necessary apertures all at one operation." I wonder if it is accurate to call those solid cast copper sabots seen in so many of the Virginia Reads "Reads" at all? The original patent suggested optional "apertures" including four "wedge-shaped" cuts equally spaced around the opening "to facilitate turning in and flattening." He further recommended the addition of a series of smaller holes "through which the molten cast metal may pass in founding, thus forming large rivets by which the cylinder (i.e., sabot) may be made to adhere firmly." Again, he had heavy projectiles in mind when he wrote the patent.
Read concluded with "a simple round central opening would suffice."

If you don't mind, I'll copy some of the unpublished material from Thunderbolts to further explain what happened.

Dr. Read's six year-old patent design was closely followed when several Deep South and Tennessee foundries commenced the production of his field-caliber projectiles in late 1861 and early 1862. That happened because Read arranged the contracts and had the first of the sabot-stamping dies made and installed himself. While visiting the Memphis foundry of Quinby & Robinson (a.k.a., "The Tredegar of the West") on December 5, 1861, Dr. Read personally oversaw the fabrication of "two patterns for Read's 3 inch Rifle shot," and one for the matching "shell." (Quotes from vouchers.) In addition, he had "one small wrought iron mandrel for 3 inch Read stamped." A "mandrell" was a cone-shaped fixture that fit over the projectile's nose to impart the turning motion of the lathe. It is clear from a third entry on the same voucher (i.e., "Patterns for Read's 32 pounder sabot"), that the "patterns" he ordered for the 3 inch projectiles included sabot-stamping dies as the descriptions and costs were nearly identical.
Hurriedly written at the bottom of the voucher was a revealing note by Quinby's partner and foundry superintendent - Robinson.
"The above bill of articles was made by order of Dr. J. B. Read and taken by him to other places for the purpose of facilitating him in having his shot and shell cast."

Now, this is current writing to summarize the story. Read returned to Ala. and contracted a north-state foundry to make 3 and 3.67 inch Rifle shells from wrought iron. That was the only sabot material prescribed by his patent. After a couple of weeks, the foundry backed out of the arrangement because of difficulties obtaining or working with the iron sabots. Read informed the other foundries that from now on, all Read sabots were "to be copper, or its equivalent of strong brass at least two-thirds copper." Dr. Read returned to Memphis in January 1862 and oversaw the production of another "six sets [of] Read's Stamps and Dies."

There is a sad story here for those with feelings for the South. Here, the new Confederacy had a world renowned projectile inventor employed by the Ordnance Bureau and his work was ignored by Richmond. I know we're all not supposed to be judgmental in this modern era, but "Damn, Boy!" (That's Tom talking from shell heaven) it mattered. One patriotic Rebel who was fully aware of all of this was Capt. Hoplite Oladowski who was a local ordnance liaison working across the Department of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. In the course of distributing guns and ammunition in early 1862, he had opportunities to test the Reads and compare their performance to the other projectiles currently being mass-produced - the Archers, Burtons and CS James - all bolts, no shells. It wasn't even close. Oladowski, Gen. Bragg's future Chief of Artillery, shouted from the rooftops about the superiority of the Reads but no one listened. When Leeds & Co. of New Orleans replenished the stocks expended at Shiloh in April 1861, they sent more of the worthless Archer, Burton and James bolts to the LA batteries. In a April 21st note to Oladowski, Leeds explained "As yet, we have no orders for any projectiles of that kind (i.e., Reads), for field guns."         

Woodenhead

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #23 on: June 17, 2017, 09:33:12 PM »
I intended for these pics to accompany my last post. The 3 inch Archer bolt with the sabot was apparently made by in New Orleans by Leeds & Co. during April 1862. They are the only Archers made anywhere that were lathe turned with dimples. Their last Burtons also had these dimples. New Orleans was captured by Farragut's naval force at the end of the month. Government vouchers confirm Leeds had produced several thousand of these since late 1861 along with lesser numbers of Burton and James bolts. Most were 3.3 inch caliber. These three poorly performing patterns were primary among those fired by the struggling Southern army at Shiloh. None of those found on the battlefield had lathe dimples which reinforces the April 1862 date for the introduction of the precision lathes to the Deep South. In Virginia, it appears that such lathes were adopted when Tredegar began the mass-production of the 3 inch Mullanes in mid-February 1862. 

Khk2921

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Re: Port Hudson 3 inch Read Bolt
« Reply #24 on: June 23, 2018, 08:22:58 PM »
Have dug these shells stopper Hudson and at Vicksburg  seems they were  only bused in these two areas