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We have a busy upcoming show schedule with the Gettysburg Show April 13-14 and then at Mansfield 3 weeks after that! 2 more shows on the calendar for June already and one in July!

Hope to see many of you at one of these shows.

A01439 - 12pdr iron plug sideloader shell from Petersburg
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Item Number: A01439

Item Title: 12pdr iron plug sideloader shell from Petersburg

Price: $495

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: CS

Type: Spherical case shot shell

Size: 12pdr

Sabot:

Fuse: Confederate copper time fuse adapter (unscrews)

Book:

Location Recovered:

Description:12pdr spherical case shot "sideloader" shell with the iron side loading plug. Due to acute shortages of lead as the war progressed, the South was forced to use iron balls as case shot. Normally the powder cavity is drilled out of the hard matrix and lead shot, but it is impossible to drill through iron balls. So, for these a dowel was stuck in the fuse hole, and the shot and matrix was loaded through a hole in the side of the shell. Once it hardened, the dowel was removed and there was a powder chamber cavity presto!

Initially, the sideplugs were made of lead, but even these proved to be in short supply so iron side plugs were used next. That makes this an 1864 made shell.

This shell was recovered in a stack of them at Petersburg by Tom Myrick. The artillery location where they came from was where Lane's North Carolina brigade was positioned. There were no fuse adapters in the balls so I have screwed one in which now screws in and out easily by hand.