Lieutenant Colonel William Leroy Broun (commander of the Richmond Arsenal
beginning in June 1863), is considered to be the developer of this projectile pattern.
Since the copper sabot was designed to serve as a bourrelet, only one bearing surface was
needed on the body of the projectile. The bourrelet and the sabot were machined on a lathe
to the proper tolerance required. This pictured example is a short variety; the longer
version was approximately 3/4" longer. There are two saw cuts to aid in the expansion
of the sabot into the grooves of the gun. Most fired specimens have the high, thin sabot
blown off, revealing the slightly rounded base of the projectile body. The Broun
projectile is found mainly on late-war battlefields. To learn more
about the inventor click
here.
