Item Number: A01672

Item Title: Superb Grand Gulf Read Shell

Price: $840

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: US

Type: Read

Size: 20 Pounder (3.67 Inch Caliber)

Sabot: Copper Ring

Fuse: Wood Adapter (Missing)

Book:
Dickey and George (1993 Edition) Page 284

Location Recovered: Grand Gulf, Mississippi

Description:This is a really hard to get 20 Pounder Read shell in just super condition. Much of the iron is very smooth to the touch. There are a few spots that have spots where the iron appears it could be knocked off and this is due to bad iron spots that have absorbed water when it was in the ground. Unless something strikes them they are fine. Lathe marks on the body are very visible. You can see where a large lathe lug was on the nose. There is a thick copper sabot in great shape showing lathe marks with nice dark patina. This is one of the nicest one of these Grand Gulf Reads we've had. There is a nice clean lathe dimple in the bottom.

These shells are almost exclusively found at the Confederate fort at Grand Gulf on the Mississippi River. There was a small cache of these 20 pounder Reads found in a gun emplacement at the fort which accounts for most known examples.

The thing that makes this shell different than other smooth sided Read shells is the rebated area just above sabot. This rebate area is jus under 1 inch tall. The D&G book says this is due to the thick sabot having the base portion of the shell cast to it and the rest of the shell then being cast to the base. Maybe one day someone will chop a bad example of one and we can verify that.

Shell is inert, cleaned and coated.