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You guys need to get the word out because we didn't sell a single shell for Valentine's Day. What's more romantic than a cannon ball? Hurry up and get your projectiles before the metal tariffs kick in.

A01749 - Uncommon 4.4 Inch Caliber Dahlgren Blind Shell

Item Number: A01749

Item Title: Uncommon 4.4 Inch Caliber Dahlgren Blind Shell

Price: $2200

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: US

Type: Dahlgren Blind Shell

Size: 4.4 Inch Caliber for 30-lber Dahlgren Gun

Sabot: Lead Cup

Fuse: None - Brass Pin

Book:
Jack Bell Page 211

Location Recovered: Likely Non-Battlefield

Description:Dahlgren projectiles with sabots are very hard to find. The most common caliber seen for the Dahlgren shells is the 3.4 inch caliber. There are a number of larger calibers that are much less common. Most fired specimens lose their sabot.

This 4.4 inch example is really nice. There is no patina or rifling on the perfect lead cup sabot and the iron bearing surfaces are really crisp indicating it is probably non-battlefield. The iron is very good but there is what looks like light ground action around the nose which is odd. It may be due to how it was stored at some point in the past. The iron has a black finish on it.

This is called a blind shell as it possesses a powder cavity but no powder or fusing. The shell is cast hollow using a black sand core. The hole in the nose was for a rod to hold the sand core centered and was removed after casting. Examination has shown that sometimes the sand was removed and other times it was left in the projectile. Then a brass pin was driven into the hole to seal the shell. The nose pin on this projectile has a wonderful brown patina and shows the hammer marks where it is driven into the hole.

This projectile came from a very prominent collection. It is inert and coated.


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