Confederate

Spherical

 

DIAMETER: 4.52 inches including straps
GUN: 12-pounder smoothbore howitzer, 4.62-inch caliber
LENGTH: 6 1/8 inches including sabot
WEIGHT: 10 pounds 9 ounces
CONSTRUCTION: Case shot
SABOT: Wooden cup
FUZING: Copper fuze plug, paper time fuze

 12-pounder CS Howitzer Case Shot
This lead side-loader ball is non-excavated and rests on its original wooden sabot. The twine used to tighten the four tin straps is missing. Note this wooden sabot is longer than the standard 12-pounder smoothbore specimen. This projectile, when equipped with this longer sabot variety, was designed to be fired from the 12-pounder howitzer cannon with its tapered chamber. The 12-pounder field howitzer, firing a spherical case-shot ball with a service charge of .75 pounds of powder at three degrees forty-five minutes, had a range of 1,050 yards and a four second time of flight.

For information on how the shell was filled read the excerpt from the book:

THE HAND-BOOK OF ARTILLERY,
FOR THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES,
(ARMY AND MILITIA.)
WITH THE
MANUAL OF HEAVY ARTILLERY, INCLUDING
THAT OF THE NEW IRON CARRIAGE.

BY
JOSEPH ROBERTS,
MAJOR 4TH REGT. ART., U. S. A., AND COLONEL 3D PENN. ART.

FIFTH EDITION,
REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED.

NEW YORK:
D. VAN NOSTRAND, 192 BROADWAY.
1863
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49. Describe the process of loading spherical case shot.

The shot having been cleaned, the balls are put in. A stick with a less diameter than the fuze hole, and having a groove on each side of it, is inserted and pushed to the bottom of the chamber by working the balls aside. The shot is then placed in a sand-bath or oven, and brought to a proper temperature to receive the sulphur, which in a melted state is poured in to fill up the interstices between the balls; the shot is allowed to cool, and the sulphur to harden, when the stick is withdrawn, and the sulphur adhering to the sides of the eye and the surface of the shot is removed. If a fuze­-plug and paper-fuze arc to be used, the charge is poured in, and the plug inserted exactly as in ease of a shell; but, if the Bormann fuze is to be used the charge is inserted and the stopper and fuze screwed into their places, care being taken before placing the fuze in position to puncture the covering of the magazine, so that the fire can communicate with the charge.

Spherical-case are now usually loaded by put­ting in the bullets and pouring melted sulphur or rosin in until the case is full. After the sulphur has cooled, the space for the powder is bored out by a cutter, which removes both the sulphur and portions of the bullets from the space. This is a quicker method, and gives a more compact projectile.

50. What advantages does this mode of loading possess over the old one?

In the old mode there was a liability to accidents, and, if the powder remained in for any length of time before being used, it was ground up and became impaired. By the new mode the powder can be placed in the small chamber, and allowed to remain without fear of damage or danger, and be ready for use when required. Being, besides, in a compact mass, instead of scattered among the bullets, its power is much greater, and it acts more effectively in throwing the bullets outward from the centre.