3-inch ordnance rifle

Common card · No. 492815

The 3-inch ordnance rifle, model 1861 was a muzzleloading and rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and widely used in field artillery units during the American Civil War. Made of wrought iron, it was capable of firing a 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) projectile 1,830 yd (1,670 m) at an elevation of 5°. The 3-inch rifle was not as effective in firing canister shot as the heavier 12-pounder Napoleon, but it proved to be highly accurate at longer ranges when firing common shell or conical case shot. There was only one reported case of a 3-inch ordnance rifle bursting in action. This was in stark contrast to the similarly sized 10-pounder Parrott rifles which occasionally burst without warning, inflicting injury on the gun crews. The Confederate States of America lacked the technology to manufacture reliable copies of the 3-inch ordnance rifle, but the Confederate States Army respected the weapons and employed those captured from Federal forces.

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