As a follow-up to my previous posting, here are two examples of 3.5 inch Mullanes cast and finished by Samson & Pae at the same time their 3 inch Mullanes were made. Note the narrow bullet-shaped flame grooves here resemble those on the previously illustrated 3 inch shells. It doesn't necessarily follow that S & P was responsible for both patterns, but it has to be considered in our ongoing pursuit of who made what shells. {For the reasons previously stated, I believe emike's 2nd Mullane shown at the start of this thread was an example of S & P's 3 inch with the Tenn sabot.] Thanks to the monthly production records available in the Citizens File, we know for a fact that S & P made these 3.5 inch projectiles as replacements for the imported Britten ammunition. Naval ordnance records list a limited quantity of CS copies of the lead cup Britten shells was supplied by Samson & Pae at the start of 1862 for $2.50 a piece. Col. Biemeck has found at least one example. Then, on July 15, 1862, the respected Richmond foundry billed the Ordnance Bureau for making "13 Blakely Shot," followed by another 12 on August 18th. Again, the price was $2.50 each. The second projectile pictured below is one of those 25 Mullane bolts. Note the unnecessary flame groove filed into the bottom edge. No more solid iron bolts were ordered because they had been deemed useless for all rifled field artillery. Extremely rare, this example came from Gettysburg, while additional bolts are owned by West Point and the Atlanta Historical Society. Dickey/George 1993 Edition (page 210) shows a similar 3.5 inch bolt excavated in eastern Tennessee. One fine 1980s day, I was taking pictures at Nick Harris' Falmouth relic shop when an unknown digger came in with two plastic buckets filled with mostly Confederate shells for sale from the Brandy Station area. When he dumped the contents on the wood floor, another of these S & P bolts rolled free. He didn't know what it was.
The first Mullane shell pictured below (see 1993 Dickey/George page 211) was excavated at Brandy Station by Steve Hall about 30 years ago. Typical of Samson & Pae's high production values, it was finely finished with deep-cut lathing on the bearing surface and most of its bottom machined smooth. [Bottom of their 3.5 inch bolt, below, finished in similar manner] Cast nose-down in a vertical mold, the seam line is obvious about 2/3 of the way up the ogive. It had a thick lathe key broken off close to the (wooden plug) fuze opening. Apparently, all of the bolts and the first of these shells had the typical long bolt and wooden dowel. However, surviving intact examples suggest that many of these shells made later had flush bolts securing the copper disc sabots. At this time, S & P was making many large caliber Mullanes and Brooke projectiles with flush bolts. Note the narrow flame groove filed into the bottom edge. On September 15, 1862, they billed the govt. for casting the first 16 of these followed by another 133 by the end of the month. By Nov. 1862, Samson & Pae had switched to making 3.5 inch shells utilizing Dr. Read's cast-in cup. Production of the S & P 3.5 inch Reads continued until late 1864 when metal shortages forced a halt. At that time the Blakely Rifles remaining with the Army of Northern Virginia were retired to the reserve yard in Richmond. Gen. Wade Hampton's request for their return in Feb. 1865 was denied, according to the Ordnance officers, because of a lack of the proper ammunition.