PDA

View Full Version : False "Civil War Confederate Armstrong Cannons" ad



cannonmn
07-06-2008, 01:49 PM
These ads seem to be cropping up on various online auction sites. The cannons they are trying to sell, I can guarantee you, came from Nepal recently, and were manufactured in the 1880's and 1890's. The rifling is the Beulieu system, three grooves, for studded shells. Many of the shells, of several different sizes, came back also and were sold in the US at Civil War and antique gun shows, often by a Maryland-based antique dealer. The typical shell for them is cast iron, 3" diameter, various lengths, and has two rings of three studs each. The studs can be copper, zinc, or whatever. There were also a number of smaller-diameter shells imported, and these are about 2.25 inch.

The ads for the cannons are fairly brazen and hopefully no one will get "stung" by them. You have to be careful about buying any unmarked cannon but especially these. They may have marks on one trunnion but if so it is typically a two-digit number.

Here are some excerpts from the falsified ads:

Typical ad title:

Two Original US Civil War Bronze Armstrong Cannon!

Part of typical ad description:

"These are almost impossible to find - A pair of British Armstrong Bronze cannons imported to the United States for the Confederacy's use during the Civil War."

I could care less if someone with more money than brains buys these but I'm quite concerned that some honest, average, well-meaning collector will be duped by these ads and make a very bad mistake, and wind up with something that has no relation to American history.

Here's what they look like:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/cannonmn/miscforumsetc/forums13/fakearmst1.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/cannonmn/miscforumsetc/forums13/fakearmst3.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/cannonmn/miscforumsetc/forums13/fakearmst4.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b62/cannonmn/miscforumsetc/forums13/fakearmst5.jpg