Also known as: 2.9-inch Parrott, 3-inch Parrott.
| Type | Cast-iron rifled field gun with wrought-iron band |
|---|---|
| Bore | 2.9 inches early, 3.0 inches later |
| Class | Light field rifle, about a 10-pound projectile |
| Designer | Robert P. Parrott, West Point Foundry |
The light field Parrott
The 10-pounder Parrott was the lightest and most numerous of the field Parrott rifles, built like its larger cousins of cast iron strengthened by a wrought-iron band shrunk over the breech. The early pattern had a 2.9-inch bore; the later standard pattern was bored to 3.0 inches so it could share the ammunition of the 3-inch Ordnance Rifle.
Firing a projectile of about ten pounds, it served in large numbers in Federal field batteries beside the smoothbore Napoleon and the wrought-iron Ordnance Rifle. Its economy of manufacture was its chief advantage, though like all Parrotts the reinforcing band could fail under hard use.
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: cannon identification pages, manuals, and reports.