Item Number: A00411

Item Title: Beautiful Baby Mullane Shell - Updated

Price: $1225

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: CS

Type: Mullane

Size: 2.25 Inch (CS Mountain Rifle)

Sabot: Copper Disk

Fuse: Wood Adapter (Still Present)

Book:
Dickey and George (1993 Edition) Page 198
Melton and Pawl (Paperback Editon) Page 61 A-80

Location Recovered: Most likely Savannah River at Augusta, Georgia

Description:Here we have a wonderful and cute little Confederate shell that is listed as a rarity 8 in the Dickey and George 1993 edition. This would look great displayed next to a big shell showing the range of the artillery sizes. This shell is only a little over 5 inches long and weighs about 2.5 pounds. This allowed extremely mobile forces to take a small cannon with them quickly and over rough terrain as the cannon tube only weighed about 200 pounds.

The shell iron is in very good condition having been found in a fresh water. This allowed the preservation of the wood fuse still in the hole. The iron is very smooth. There is a significant percentage of the wood block around the bolt in the base. This was present to help spread the impact of the gun firing to minimize the bolt breaking off and forcing the sabot into the rifle more evenly. To keep from damaging the wood when the shell was cleaned the base was carefully cleaned and still has some river concretion around the pins and wood block but it is not a lot.

One very cool aspect of this shell is the tow or hemp packing in the space between the shell body and sabot. Most of what is in the groove is the rope looking material which held a grease lubricant. It is remarkable preserved.

I feel very certain that it was recovered in the Savannah River dumping outside the Augusta Arsenal site. It has the look those had. A few were also found in the Selma River but they have a different look and condition of the iron is not as smooth as this in my experience.

This is a wonderful shell to add to an advanced collection that doesn't come up very often and certainly not in this kind of shape at such a good price. The shell has been cleaned and coated.