7" Brooke shell sabot

[alwion]

looking for a 1/2 to full 7" brooke sabot to put or sit my brooke shell on. would have to be fairly flat piece 

[Pete George]

  Best I can do for you is 1/3rd of a 7" Brooke sabot.  It's got the star-mark on it, which is thought to represent the Charleston SC arsenal, because the star-mark is most often seen on Brooke sabots dug in the Charleston area.  Has hook-slant rifling, and pleasingly smooth green dug copper patina.  Price is $125.

Regards,
Pete

[emike123]

Pete,

I know you are at the show today, but I had given Alan your # but you said you thought this piece was to a 6.4" Brooke.  If it is indeed to a 7in, that might be good for him as Jack Bell's is a little wavy.

[Pete George]

  I have two pieces.  One is a 6.4"-caliber, the other is a 7"-caliber.

Regards,
Pete

[alwion]

Hi Pete is 1/3 like 3 segments like the one mike had for sale earlier this year?
would it display ok if I blocked the back side, or is all you can do with it lay it off to the side?
I was shooting for 1/2 or better so it wouldn't wobble, how long would I have to look, as I think these seem to be rare?

I know very little about this, so an opinion would be great, I may just be crazy and setting it on a "part" may be a bad idea

[Dave the plumber]

   Alan,     finding a complete and flat Brooke sabot will be a challange, and might take awhile, but they are out there. I've been looking for a 6.4 good flat Brooke sabot for years now, although they seem much rarer.

     On a side note;     a friend of mine here in Wilmington used to go down to Fort Fisher with his dad in the 50's and 60's when shells were easy to find and still in the mounds [ that have now washed away ]. They would sit there and remove the sabot's from all the CS ordnance and throw the shells back down on the ground. They were after the brass for scrap !! Said they would get quite a bit, as the shells were still sitting there from the war......
     Now he is an artillery collector and avid metal detectorist and he cringes at the thought of loosing all those sabot's. So, here is another reason why there are a heck of alot more shells than sabot's, besides the ones thrown in flight.
                                                           David

[Pete George]

Alwion wrote:
> Hi Pete is 1/3 like 3 segments like the one mike had for sale earlier this year?

  If "segments" means ratchet-planes... doing the math, 1/3 of the sabot is 2-&-1/3 segments.  That's what my partial sabot has.  Also, I laid a cloth measuring-tape around its circumference, and got 7-&-1/8 inches.   Again, that is very nearly exactly 1/3 of a complete sabot's circumference.  Also, my partial sabot has 1/2 of the central bolt-hole.

  It clearly shows deep 7-groove "hook-slant" rifling, from the Brooke Rifle which fired it.  Interestingly, it has numerous small internal casting bubbles visible in the broken edges -- which is why this sabot broke.  The molten copper was at the wrong temperature during casting.

  As I mentioned previously, it has a large (.65-inch) star stamped into it, near the bolt-hole.  Actually, the star on mine is stamped twice.

> Would it display ok if I blocked the back side, or is all you can do with it lay it off to the side?

  Because my partial sabot is perfectly flat, it would display okay (with a supporting block under the rest of the shell).

> I was shooting for 1/2 or better so it wouldn't wobble, how long would I have to look, as I think these seem to be rare?

  As Dave mentioned, they are extremely rare to find when not still attached to a projectile.  It's due to the fact that most Brooke Heavy Caliber projectiles were fired facing the ocean or a large river.  Therefore, most sabots or pieces of their sabots which broke off upon firing landed in deep water, where they will almost certainly forever remain unfound.

> I know very little about this, so an opinion would be great, I may just be crazy and setting it on a "part" may be a bad idea.

  Definitely NOT a bad idea.  It's been done by quite a few collectors, when an intact rare sabot could not be found.  Besides Brooke projectiles, its been done with Parrott, Mullane, and Harding sabot-pieces.

  And if you ever do manage to find an intact 7-inch Brooke sabot for your shell, the partial sabot will still have value because of the star "arsenal-mark."

Regards,
Pete

[alwion]

vicarious fix, staring at the mailbox for days in anticipation.  reminds me of the movie "you've got mail". Oh how our collections addict us 

[Pete George]

  I cashed your check today, and went directly from the bank to the nearest Post Office, where I mailed you the package by Priority Mail.  Theoretically, in 3 days it should arrive at the address you gave me.  Also, I paid for full-value insurance on it, so if the Postal Service loses it, they'll have to repay you in full for it.

Regards,
Pete

[alwion]

I wasn"t nagging:) , I'm just excited  Have a "base" rough turned, have to wait for the piece to fine finish it. then I'm going to inset the brass on one side. Can't wait to se how it turns out. Thanks Pete!!!

[alwion]

thanks Pete, got it. will post if it turns out nice, and I ever get it done

[CarlS]

Please do.  Would be great to see different ideas on how to display shells that lost their sabot.

[alwion]

finally, well this didn't work exactly to plan, but close. The shell still had a bolt, so had to allow for that. Because of the firing, the sabot would also only fit the shell in one position. Decided not to try and color the stand the same as sabot, so it would show. Picked flat black so it wouldn't Glare, but still show the insetted brass

[alwion]

shell in place

[CarlS]

Nicely done!