Also known as: rifled and banded gun.
| Conversion | Rifling the bore and adding a wrought-iron band |
|---|---|
| Applied to | Older 32- and 42-pounder smoothbores and others |
| Purpose | Turn existing smoothbores into rifled guns |
Making rifles from smoothbores
Both sides began the war with large stocks of smoothbore guns and a pressing need for rifled artillery. A common answer was to convert the old guns: their bores were cut with rifling, and because rifled charges strained the breech, a wrought-iron band was shrunk over it for strength.
Heavy 32- and 42-pounder smoothbores were among the guns converted this way, giving service as banded rifles and stretching a limited supply of ordnance.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- United States Army, Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1862.
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: manuals, reports, and manufacturing references.