Captain Robert Parker Parrott, United States Army Retired, patented this
projectile on August 20, 1861, patent #33,100. Parrott was the Superintendent of the West
Point Gun Foundry at Cold Spring, New York, in the 1860's. Due to the date and the time of
its introduction into the service the Parrott projectiles with the wrought iron ring sabot
are classified as Federal Read-Parrott. This sabot improvement was an attempt to correct
the problem that Dr. John B. Read had with his patented thin wrought iron ring projectile
that was patented on October 28, 1856, patent #15,999. Parrott's improvement was a thicker
wrought iron ring (Parrott's patent refers to the sabot as a wrought iron cup) that was
manufactured with three corresponding rifling projections (pre-rifling) stamped into the
sabot. This helped to prevent the breakage of the wrought iron ring during expansion. This
pictured example is commonly called a Read-Parrott flat-nose bolt. They are also found in
20-pounder (3.67-inch caliber) size.
