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Last Known Production Example, 1863
Dated Civil War U.S. West Point Foundry
2.9 Inch Model 1861 10-Pounder
Parrott Rifle
LOT 1242
Rare Last Known Production Example, Registry Number
255, 1863 Dated Civil War U.S. West Point Foundry 2.9
Inch Model 1861 10-Pounder Parrott Rifle with Carriage
- Serial no. 255, 2.9 inch cal., 70 inch round bbl., black finish.
Manufactured in 1863 per the date marking on the muzzle of this
example which is also bearing the very last known Federal Registry
number 255. Approximately 255 or less of these were manufactured
between 1861-1863, with Federal Registry numbers 1 through 255 assigned
to the 2.9 inch Model 1861 Parrott rifles known to have been accepted for
government use between May 1861 to April 1863, and the original Federal Registry
records only accounts for 228 of them with some gaps in between, not including this
example numbered 255, per pages 109-110 and Appendix 4A on pages 231-232 of the book “Field
Artillery Weapons of the Civil War” by Hazlett, Olmstead and Parks. The Parrott Rifle was invented by Captain Robert Parker Parrott in 1860 and produced at the West Point Foundry,
where he was the superintendent, in multiple sizes, including these 10-Pounders which were designed for 2.9 inch shells earlier in the war and later for use with 3 inch shells. Some
Parrott Rifles were ordered by the State of Virginia just before the war, and they were also copied by the Confederacy. They are cast iron and have large reinforcing bands in the
breech section. The Parrott Rifles earned a dubious reputation for sometimes bursting without warning leading them to be feared by artillerymen, and they were slowly replaced by
the 3-Inch Ordnance Rifles and retired after the war. This very solid example has three groove rifling, “US” on top between the trunnions, “10 PDR” on the left trunnion, “R.P.P.” (Robert
Parker Parrott) on the right trunnion, “895 No 255. 1863. W.P.F./A.M. 2.9” marked on the muzzle, indicating a weight of 895 pounds, that it is the 255th manufactured, manufactured
in 1863 by the West Point Foundry, inspected by Alfred Mordecai, and uses 2.9 inch shells. Includes a wooden carriage. The tube measures approximately 78 inches from muzzle to
cascabel, with a 70 inch inside bore length, with overall measurements including the carriage approximately 132 inches long by 75 inches wide by 54 1/2 inches tall.
CONDITION: Good with much of the applied black painted finish over moderate pitting, scattered flaking, a few areas of oxidation and pitting, and a few small specks of green paint
on the tube. Carriage is also good with nearly all of the applied green painted finish, a few cracks, some absent rivets on the front of the trunnion plates with some slight warping,
remaining otherwise sound.
Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000
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