Confederate Adjutant General button	The Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway
	Winchester, Virginia USA (changed hands 70 times in the Civil War!) I am a collector buying and selling authentic Civil War Relics
	This page updated   April 03, 2008

The Ridgeway Civil War reference archive 
Artillery shells, Dyer (Federal)

This is a sampling of relics collected by Harry Ridgeway over the years.  This archive record is for educational purposes only.  Some of the relics listed may be on display at the Old Court House Civil War Museum, Winchester Virginia, some are no longer owned by the author.  None of the items listed in this section are for sale, please refer to the separate sales catalog for items that are currently offered.

All artillery items listed  have been disarmed and rendered inert. 

Dyer was a Federal inventor.  His shells employed an expanding lead cup.  For many years these shells were misidentified as Burton shells.  The confusion arose because Dyer and Burton collaborated before the war and these lead saboted rounded nose shells were erroneously identified as Burtons having been recovered from First Manassas battlefield in 1861!  A report was written with this erroneous information, and given the contemporaneous nature of the report, nobody questioned it until nearly 1993.  The record showed that there were significant Dyers expended at First Manassas, yet most recoveries were of these "Burtons" it simply did not make sense that Burton would be common and Dyer would be rare.  On research by Pete George, the patent records revealed that the expanding cup shell was indeed the invention of Dyer, and  now we see that the brass saboted Burton is indeed a rare shell.  

A1918    Dyer prototype common shell, lead cup sabot, Schenkl percussion fuse, Ordnance rifle, 3 in.

This is the earliest version of Dyer, could date to 1859. Dyer employed a zinc alloyed cup sabot, shell bottom is rounded, sabot is cast leaving a gap at the top, no flame grooves. Dyer sabots performed poorly, most were thrown on firing. Shell employed a percussion fuse, and is a "common" round (no balls) used against opposing cannon. Schenkl brass percussion fuse, early version with rounded edge (Jones pg. 98 lower right)
Fired sabot intact, rifling is barely visible because of the hardness of the zinc, Schenkl percussion fuse fully intact, metal is excellent minor pitting only.
Recovered: Atlanta campaign, even though manufactured early shell was apparently held in storage until this 1864 campaign, probably due to performance problems.
Diameter 2.94 inch, length 7.0 inch
Ref: D & G pg. 144

A1254     Dyer prototype common shell - 3 inch Ordnance rifle 

Copper percussion fuse, This is the first pattern of Schenkl. It has a rounded edge. This made it too difficult to stamp the patent date, they quickly switched to a flat top with the stamped date. The shell and the fuse were both made well before the Civil War, possibly 1859. There is no flame groove in the sabot, later versions had flame grooves.
Fired sabot fully intact, showing 7 lands & grooves!
Recovered: Chancellorsville Va
Diameter 2.94 inch, length 7.0 inch
Ref: Jones Fuse book, page 98 lower right.
Ref: Dickey & George (93 edition) pg. 144 

A1552    Dyer "common" shell, lead cup sabot, Dyer time fuse, Ordnance rifle, 3 in. 
 
Dyer employed a zinc alloyed cup sabot, shell bottom is rounded, sabot is cast leaving a gap at the top, flame grooves added, rounded nose shell could be either case shot or "common" shell with explosive charge only. Dyer sabots performed poorly, most were thrown on firing. Dyer zinc time fuse (Jones pg. 36) 
Fired sabot shows 7 lands & grooves, sabots are thrown on most fired examples, Zinc time fuse is fully intact, metal is attractive, minor pitting only. 
Recovered: Malvern Hill, Va 
Diameter 2.94 inches, length 7 inches, weight 8 lbs. 
Ref: D & G pg. 145 ("common" shell) 

A0042    Dyer "case shot" shell, lead cup sabot, Dyer time fuse, Ordnance rifle, 3 in.

Dyer employed a zinc alloyed cup sabot, shell bottom is rounded, sabot is cast leaving a gap at the top, flame grooves added, rounded nose shell could be either case shot or "common" shell with explosive charge only. Dyer sabots performed poorly, most were thrown on firing. Dyer zinc time fuse (Jones pg. 36) 
Sabot thrown on this fired example as is typical, this "dud" hit something and cracked and eventually split open exposing the case shot balls inside. Notice the very long fuse train., Dyer time fuse is intact. 
Recovered: Fredericksburg VA 
Diameter 2.94 inches, length 7 inches 
Ref: D & G pg. 145 ("case shot") 

A1551   Dyer "case shot" shell, lead cup sabot, Dyer time fuse, Ordnance rifle, 3 in.

(Example is from Ridgeway archive) 
Dyer employed a zinc alloyed cup sabot, shell bottom is rounded, sabot is cast leaving a gap at the top, flame grooves added, rounded nose shell could be either case shot or "common" shell with explosive charge only. Dyer sabots performed poorly, most were thrown on firing. Dyer zinc time fuse (Jones pg. 36) 
Fired sabot intact showing 7 lands & grooves, Dyer zinc time fuse intact, attractive shell, minor pitting only. 
Recovered: Shiloh Tennessee 
Diameter 2.94 inches, length 7 inches, weight 10 lbs 
Ref: D & G pg. 145 ("case shot")

A1548    Dyer pointed nose "common" shell, lead cup sabot, Dyer time fuse, Ordnance rifle, 3 in. 
 
Dyer employed a zinc alloyed cup sabot, shell bottom is rounded, sabot is cast leaving a gap at the top, flame grooves added, this pointed nose shell was designed as a "common" shell with explosive charge only. Dyer sabots performed poorly, most were thrown on firing. Dyer zinc time fuse (Jones pg. 36) 
Unfired sabot fully intact, Dyer zinc time fuse fully intact, metal attractive minor pitting only. 
Recovered: Cedar Mountain, Va 
Diameter 2.94 inch, length 7.4 inch 
Ref: D & G pg. 146 

A1547     Dyer shell, lead cup sabot, Federal 3 inch rifle 
 
This was the next generation of Dyer shells, lead cup sabot is taller and has an expansion ring cast into the sabot. Threaded for Taylor time fuse, this round may have been produced after the war, no battlefield examples have been found. Sabot intact, metal quality good minimum pitting. 
Diameter 2.96 inch, length 8.2 inch 
Ref: Melton & Pawl Fig III B10  

A0146    Dyer shell, Dyer zinc time fuse, Siege rifle 4.5 in.
 
Massive lead cup sabot proved impractical. Too often the sabot was thrown upon firing or if not, it would absorb the shock of explosion too much making fragmentation poor, or it would foul the rifling. Most are case shot. Dyer zinc time fuse (Jones pg. 36) 
Fired sabot shows 9 lands & grooves, rare to get one with definite rifling, zinc time fuse partial, metal quality good light pitting. 
Recovered: Petersburg Va 
Diameter 4.4 in length 9.1 in 
Ref: Bell Heavy Ord, pg. 222

A1405     Dyer shell - 4.5 inch Siege Rifle
 
Shell had a massive lead sabot, missing on this one, grooves for wire wrap under sabot are exposed, zinc time fuse is partial. Metal is pitted but stable.
Recovered: Battery Danzler (Petersburg Va)
Diameter 4.4in length 9.12 in
Ref: Bell Heavy Ord, pg. 222 

A2007     Dyer shell, wood fused, Rifled 42 pounder, 7 in. 
 
These Dyers were used extensively by the Federal gunboats in the assault of Island No 10, a Confederate stronghold in the middle of the Mississippi River. The bombardment was extensive. Island 10 is no longer an island, it was washed away years ago by the river and these shells are found in the flood plain having sailed well past the target! The massive lead cup sabot proved to be problematic, it would foul the rifling and prevent the flame from igniting the fuse, to remedy a section of the sabot would often be chopped. Intended for a wood drive in time fuse.
Fired sabot fully intact, remnants of the wood fuse remain., metal quality is good light pitting.
Recovered: Island # 10, Mississippi River
Diameter 6.9in., length 13.75in., 80lbs
Ref: Bell Heavy Ord, pg. 224