Encyclopedia · Projectiles and ammunition

Schenkl projectile

The Schenkl projectile used a tapered rear body and a papier-mache or composition sabot that expanded into the rifling when driven forward by propellant pressure. Surviving projectiles often lack the expendable sabot.

Also known as: Schenkl shell, Schenkl shot.

Key facts
ClassRifled-artillery projectile family
InventorJohn P. Schenkl
Characteristic featureTapered rear cone for an expanding papier-mache sabot
FormsShell, case shot, and related projectile variants
Fuze relationshipsSchenkl percussion and combination fuzes

Expanding sabot

Gillmore's Fort Pulaski report illustrated the Schenkl body terminating in a cone. A papier-mache wad moved forward on the cone and expanded into the rifling; after leaving the bore, the expendable material separated from the projectile.

Fuzes and linked patents

Schenkl projectiles and Schenkl fuzes are related but separate entities. John P. Schenkl's 1862 patent covered a time-and-concussion fuze arrangement; projectile bodies, sabot forms, and specific fuze patterns should each retain their own records and relationships.

Three-inch Schenkl projectile with tapered base
Three-inch Schenkl projectile. The tapered rear body received the expendable expanding sabot. — CivilWarArtillery.com legacy research archive
Schenkl projectile fuze detail
Fuze detail associated with a Schenkl projectile. — CivilWarArtillery.com legacy research archive

Sources & further reading

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