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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