When I purchased the first 3 inch Read pictured below from Carl, I told him I would write it up for the site. From his sale photos, I thought it had a die-struck copper sabot. But I was mistaken. Instead, it has a thick cast copper cup finely finished on the inside. When the shell arrived I recognized it as a common pattern. In fact, I had recently purchased an identical Read from Nick Harris in Falmouth, VA, dug at Spotsylvania in 1969 by Mac Mason's digging buddy. Mac painted it for him (now faded after 50 years). The price was increased about fifty dollars for Mac's writing. For a number of reasons, I believe this was the style made in Richmond by Rahm's Eagle Machine Works. Between late 1862 and early 1864, Rahm cast about 10,000 Reads. I think he made a lot of Mullanes before that but I haven't worked that out yet. It has been my mission to identify the makers of most CS field-caliber ammo. Has anyone heard of a Read stamped "AR" like their Parrotts?
Woodenhead
