Boreman ID

[willus41]

Hi my name is Jimmy I'm new to the forum, I got this 12 pound boreman for what I think was a good price ( $150.00) anyways the fuse is in bad shape but the iron is great with little pitting. My question is, Is there any other way to tell if a boreman is confederate other than the fuse starting at a half of a second? I once heard someone claim theirs was confederate because it had a mold seam which this one also has. However I am no expert so I was hoping for some input. Thanks in advance and if anyone knows where to pick up a 93 edition of Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War please let me know!!!

[PCGeorge]

Hi Jimmy. First, welcome to the Civil War Bullet Forum. You'll "meet" some very good people here.

I'm the co-author of the book you are seeking ("Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War: Revised & Supplemented 1993 Edition"). I am currently sold-out of it, but you can contact Tom Henrique, the webmaster at civilwarprojectiles.com -- he has a few brand-new copies for sale, at $125 (plus postage & insurance).

Important note for other readers who are interested in buying a copy of the book:
An earlier edition of it exists, published in 1980. But that edition was made obsolete by the addition of a LOT more information (and 127 more photos) in the 1993 Edition. I suggest you do not pay BIG bucks for the obsolete (1980) edition. To spot the difference when you see one for sale, make sure the book says "Revised & Supplemented 1993 Edition" on its cover.

You wrote:
> My question is, Is there any other way to tell if a boreman is confederate other than the fuse starting at a half of a second?

Yes... there are several other clues, besides the half-second mark. Unfortunately, your shell's Bormann fuze is too corroded for us to reach any solid certainty about it being a US-made or CS-made Bormann fuze.

I should mention that the "rule" which claims the presence of a visible old-seam on a ball means it is Confederate made is in actual fact only a "rule-of-thumb." It is not a 100%-reliable guide -- nor even an 80%-reliable guide. Yes, many CS-made balls show a mold-seam ...but so do many pre-1861 US-made balls ...and so do many rock-crusher balls, Sports Shot Put balls, civilian Ornamental Ironwork balls, and many-many Revolutionary War & War-of-1812 cannonballs.

Now, all of that having been said... because the mold-seam on your Bormann-fuzed shell is so "prominent," in my opinion it is most likely a CS-made one. Though I've seen many a mold-seam on US-made Bormann shells in my 35 years of closely obserserving them, the seam on the US-made ones tends to be just a small line, less prominent than the "ledge-like" seam on your shell.

I should also mention... a Bormman-fuzed shell having a brass underplug or an iron underplug means nothing about US or CS manufacture. Both sides used brass Bormann underplugs, and both sides used iron underplugs.

One of the Bormann-fuze "US or CS?" ID clues is the shape of the spanner-wrench slot(s). If a Bormann fuze has two "separate" square wrench-slots, it is strictly US-made. But, both sides used the single long wrench-slot.

Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]

[willus41]

Thank you very much for the information both on the (your) Book and also the shell