Wish we could still buy at these prices..

[uscs digger]

When was the last time you could buy a 12lb Parrott shell for $15.00. This was taken out of vol 1 no. 2 of North South Trader. Found the issue for $.50 at a fle market. Dates from July 1973

[CarlS]

Neat.  For $90 you could get a great starter collection by buying everything listed!

[scottfromgeorgia]

Better not to buy the artillery and buy Coke stock. $15 invested in Coke in 1973 would be worth $1,133.07 today. The average Parrott shell - about $300-$400.

[alwion]

and then sell and buy shells:)  Shells are much more fun than stock

[emike123]

Thats funny.  I have been travelling and didn't look at this post very closely.

Jimmy Wilson was one of my two relic mentors.  Back in the day I lived in Northern Virginia.  I had a girlfriend out in Manassas.  She was a fine girl, but the town was as redneck as you could get.  Now it is cookie cutter housing developments ands trip malls but Jimmy still has his coin and relic shop there in the last tiny oasis of nicety on Battle Street last I was there 18mos or so ago.  If anyone can get over there, he is a relic hunting legend and we would talk for hours on bullets.  He found the NC camp where the 6th NC buckles were found and has more history than just bullets too.  He is a super awesome guy.

Now, Bannermans in 1972 was still selling non dug James shells for $15 so the return on them was better than on a Parrott.  My cousin bought a musket then for $25 and a CSA rectangle for $250.  As a result from my formative years I wanted 3 relics: a musket, a cannon ball (different story there), and a CSA rectangle.  I have subsequently gotten them all but alas I didn't stop.

I remember also back in the day Lawrence Christopher asking me how many shells I had.  I said 7!  He said, "7, that is a good number."  I couldn't leave well enough alone.

Here's my CSA rectangle acquired back then from Brother Lawrence), not shown for many a year and in a safe somewhere unfortunately locked out of site:

[Dave the plumber]

      is Lawrence still with us ??  I heard he was in a hospice type of place, or is that a rumor ??

[emike123]

The term for the place where Lawrence resides is "Assisted Living"  Hospice is a place folks move to when they are in the last couple weeks of their lives.

Lawrence did have cancer last I checked in on him (which has been a while sadly -- he is very near where the Dalton Show is held but I have not been to it in several years), but he is a tough bird having survived a mill loom accident, a copperhead bite, and his most recent tangle with a 20pdr Parrott. 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Mike,
What happened with the 20 pdr Parrott?
John

[emike123]

It blew up in his face when he was trying to inert it with a hand drill.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Mike,
  That is terrible, was this a recent accident? How bad was he injured?
John

[emike123]

He was badly injured, John.  It was 6 years ago.  If you Google his name, you will find a host of stories about this when it happened.  I am surprised you are unaware of its occurrence because it was a big deal at the time.  I think most everybody on this website concerned about black powder artillery as well as the Civil War artillery community at large knows of this accident all too well.  Of all people with your background I should think you would've heard about it at the time if not since.

All the injuries of the past 50 years, 5 in total, have been the result of hand power tools directly applied to projectiles. None have gone off spontaneously.  For folks who choose to "work on" these shells, and I am not one of those people, the #1 rule is a remote inerting apparatus similar to what you used in your Navy EOD days.

[Garret]

With Lawrence's and Sam White's accidents (RIP Sam) I know what worried me at the time is whether local governments would pass laws to clamp down on artillery collectors.  There aren't too many collectors out where I live and I don't even know what would happen if word got out that I have this stuff in my home.  There have been cases where even solid shot have been blown up by overzealous law enforcement trying to keep people safe.  Agree with Mike--no one should drill by hand.  The results could affect the rest of us. 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Mike,
     I don't recall an accident with someone using a hand drill (hand powered), not electric.
   I heard of two in a row, the first one in Georgia and then Sam White's death. I can't remember the man in Georgia who had a severe injury to his head but survived it but remember a Corky Huey in an accident.
John

[emike123]

Lawrence Christopher is the one you remember in Georgia.  He was using a hand held, power drill

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Mike,
  Thank you.
John