CWArtillery wrote:
> [...] The other one has an '8' (number eight) stamped on it. It is the same size and same font. Any thoughts on that one?
I intended to talk about the non-letter marks (such as a number or other type of symbol) in future post. But since you've brought up the 8-mark on 10-pounder Brooke sabots...
As you know, Confederate projectiles are almost never-ever marked with just a number. I haven't yet been able to come up with a "trackback-code" reason for single-digit numbers.
But I have thought of an entirely different kind of reason for using the Omega-mark, the 8 mark, and the O with a "dash" THROUGH one side of the O. I think they could be a "substitution" for Selma's G mark. All of those three symbols have a close resemblance to a capital letter G. (Squint at them and you'll see what I mean.) Also, all of those three symbols are found only in areas which were supplied by Selma.
If you were a Confederate metal-finisher and you broke your G-stamp, and couldn't get a replacement in the mid-to-late-wartime Confederacy, you might decide to approximate the shape of a G by using a similar-looking symbol. Example: stamp an O mark and then add a short "dash-line" across the the right side of the O. It will now look very similar to a G. Also: Turn the Omega onto its left side -- it will then look like a G.
We know that Selma was the chief supplier of artillery projectiles for the Mobile Bay defenses. I know of some CS Borman-fuzed shells which were found dumped in Mobile Bay at an 1865 site. They had the O-with-dash mark.
We also know that some 10-pounder Brooke shells are absolutely identical except for having a G mark or 8 mark on their sabot. So, either two different manufacturerers were producing absolutely-identical Brooke shells -- or they were produced at the same place and a "substitute G mark had to be used to mark some of them.
I do realize this reasoning is "a stretch" ...but I can't think of any other logical reason for the "G-lookalikes" found only in areas supplied by Selma... the Omega mark, 8, and O-with-dash-mark. If somebody can think of a better explanation, particularly for the Omega and the O-with-dash, please share your thinking.
Regards,
Pete