Two Type II James Rifles in Baton Rouge, LA

[Cannoneer]

Two Type II James Rifles given to Louisiana State University by General William Tecumseh Sherman after the Civil War. Click on the photos to enlarge. Two 3.80-inch James Rifles at LSU

It’s just a personal opinion, but to me the “Type II James Rifles” are the finest looking field artillery pieces used during our Civil War. Now don’t misunderstand me, I said finest looking, not the finest weapon, if I had lived in that time, and really had to man a field piece in the war (and was given a choice), I’d choose either the M 1861 3-inch Ordnance Rifle (the sleek profile of which the James Rifle almost exactly duplicates, only in bronze), or for a smoothbore choice the Model 1857 Light 12-pdr Gun Howitzer (more often called a Napoleon); but if I ever find myself in a position where (like Zulu did) I can have a full size CW cannon on display in my living room, then you can bet that it will be a 14-pdr James Rifle.

historicalbatonrouge.blogspot

[Zulu]

Boom J,
Those are sweet!  You need one in your living room.  It is something you don't mind dusting.
Zulu

[keithinvestigations]

To bad the barrel is plugged....

[keithinvestigations]

Boom J,
Those are sweet!  You need one in your living room.  It is something you don't mind dusting.
Zulu

Zulu, you're either not married, or have a very understanding wife, lol

[Cannoneer]

To bad the barrel is plugged....

Keith,

Outdoor artillery displays will often have the barrel's bores blocked to keep the weather out, and also to make the unenlightened look elswhere for a place to get rid of their trash.

[Cannoneer]

Boom J,
Those are sweet!  You need one in your living room.  It is something you don't mind dusting.
Zulu

Believe me when I say that if I could have one of those in my house I'd gladly promise her to keep it spotless at all times. To be honest about it (if I could ever really have one of those guns) I would feel a very strong urge (I'm talkin' a full blown Victor III brass polishing Jones) to polish the heck out of it, even though polishing bronze ordnance goes against my principles.

Zulu, you're either not married, or have a very understanding wife, lol

I've told him before, he should get to a jewelry store and buy his better half something very, very, very nice!

[Zulu]

Boom J,
Those are sweet!  You need one in your living room.  It is something you don't mind dusting.
Zulu

Believe me when I say that if I could have one of those in my house I'd gladly promise her to keep it spotless at all times. To be honest about it (if I could ever really have one of those guns) I would feel a very strong urge (I'm talkin' a full blown Victor III brass polishing Jones) to polish the heck out of it, even though polishing bronze ordnance goes against my principles.

Zulu, you're either not married, or have a very understanding wife, lol

I've told him before, he should get to a jewelry store and buy his better half something very, very, very nice!

That girl dosen't want jewelery.  She wants a blunderbus.  Diamonds are cheaper.
Zulu

[Cannoneer]

Zulu,
Your wife evidently has very discriminating tastes, so I'm going to help you out in picking the proper gift for her. This incredible blunderbuss was designed by none other than John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, and it's marked No. 2 in a series of (I think) only two that were ever manufactured. I can only guess that the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, D.C. would be more than glad to let you have this fine piece for a song.

Photos by cannonmn

[Zulu]

That is an incredible piece!
You are right.  I could probably get it pretty cheap.
Zulu

[Cannoneer]

This will be the post that puts this thread to bed! I've just been laying around waiting for my waist girth to decrease a tad on these few lazy days following the "Thanksgiving Feast", and as my mind begins to wander aimlessly, this photo comes to mind along with some disturbing imagery. The imagery consists of seeing the "cannonmn" strolling down the street in Baton Rouge where he encounters this plump pretty bird getting ready to make a deposit right on top of this bronze beauties front sight. I can see it now, him charging the bird at full gallop, arms outstretched like Frankenstein's, screaming at the top of his lungs; I'm going to wring your #@!*#!@ feathered neck you !*#@~%# vandal!  





Edit: I meant to include this more serious part on this post yesterday, but I got tired and called it quits. For quite a while I had assumed that the front sights on these rifles were cast integrally with the barrel, but I recently learned that they are dovetailed to the top of the tube. Ames Manufacturing Co. which produced these barrels to fire General James projectile design, fit the sights on the barrels with such precision that it's hard to see the lines where sight and barrel meet.

[Cat Whisperer]

Another calendar pix!  Obviously the bird is unaware of muzzle blast.

G.K.Chesterton eh?  Another name heard from time to time in my childhood - likely the Father Brown series.

[Cannoneer]

Tim,
A lot of well known people were greatly influenced by Chesterton's writing, I think that it's a shame that many people today aren't more familiar with his works.

[Max Caliber]

Those front sights are dovetailed in from the muzzle, not across the barrel like most front sights. You see one missing here and there on battlefield guns.

[Cannoneer]

Hey, you disabused me of certain misconceptions I had about the sights on these guns (sorry, I've just got to use the word disabused every once in awhile). Believe it or not, there are some misguided souls in this world that begin to gyrate and foam at the mouth when a good Samaritan takes the time to disabuse them of faulty information they wrongly hold to be factual; thank goodness that I possess just enough common sense to never act as foolish.  

When I read about these sights being dovetailed, I automatically jumped to the conclusion that the dovetail formed a right angle with the line of metal on top of the barrel, now I understand how the blade can blend in so smoothly with the barrel; thanks for cluing me in, Max.