"Visual difference - Napoleon and Ordinance Rifle" Topic

I know the 3" Ordinance rifle was (as the name implies) rifled, but from a miniature standpoint what should I look for to tell the difference between the two artillery pieces?

I'm a long way from an expert, but I'd say the Napoleon is a little stubbier and has a flared muzzle.

There is a existing 3"rifle made at the Phoenix Iron works in a park in the middle of Phoenixville

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The rifle is black and the Napoleon is bronze…the tubes are totally different colors

As wpilon said the ordinance rifle is black because it is wrought iron. The Napoleon is bronze, which is why they look green as memorials, because that's how the copper in the alloy corrodes.

+1 Jeff Ewing

The rifle has a smooth, tapered barrel. The Napoleon has a flared end to the barrel.

The 3 inch has a black barrel and the 12lb Napoleon has a brass barrel. Any artillery barrel that is rifled will be black.

The Union Napoleon had a flared muzzle. Confederate Napoleons – in an attempt to save metal – typically did not. And the Trafalgar Iron Works in Richmond did cast a number of Napoleons in Iron when bronze was not available.

Here's a good visual comparison of the 3" rifle and the 12-lb Napoleon from the Gettysburg battlefield.

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As stated above, the Napoleons are the greenish gray barreled ones in the center, flanked by the black rifles background and foreground.

Jim

Wouldn't the bronze have been kept polished? Not much you can do with iron except keep corrosion off and maybe paint it.

Yes, the bronze barrels would have been kept polished. Iron barrels were painted black.

Any artillery barrel that is rifled will be black.

Not true. Many bronze guns were rifled, either as conversions or as manufactured.

As far as distinguishing the M1857 gun-howitzer from the M1861 rifle, the breach is a dead give-away. The rifle has a smoothly rounded breach, while the Napoleon has a sharp break at the back end of the barrel, with an almost flat breech. As for length, the rifle is 66.25" long, while the Napoleon is 72.15".

Extrabio1947,

"And the Trafalgar Iron Works in Richmond…."

That should be Tedegar Iron Works.

Tredegar…yup…that's what I get for trying to multitask and not paying attention to spellcheck. Thank you.

Regarding rifled bronze pieces, 6 pound smoothbores were rifled and converted into James Rifles early in the war. Were there any other bronze rifles used in any numbers?

Here is a standard Napoleon on the field at Monocacy, this is how the gun would have looked in service, the barrel would have not been weathered

theminiaturespage.com‌

‌"TMP link

and here is a 3 inch ordnance rifle at Gettysburg

theminiaturespage.com

‌"TMP link

Here you can see the muzzle of a Napoleon,

theminiaturespage.com

‌"TMP link

and of a 3 inch

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Not true. Many bronze guns were rifled, either as conversions or as manufactured.

There were some attempts to rifle bronze barrels. But the metal was to soft to hold the rifling after repeated firings. So only iron was used for rifling.

Yes and no. Many bronze 6 pounders were rifled and a fair amount were manufactured. There was a Union Battery of 12 pounder James rifles in McGilvery's gun line at Gettysburg and two James Rifles can be seen there today. Many of the rifled guns at the siege of Ft Pulaski were bronze rifles. Bronze tubes though were found to deteriorate rapidly.

Excellent pics, Jowady!

Thanks!

Didn't the rifles also have an iron band around the barrel about where the charge would have ignited, to strengthen the iron of the barrel. the Napoleons didn't have this.

The 10 pound Parrot Rifles had the band to reinforce the breach. The 3" Ordnance did not--that's how you tell them apart.

After watching both a Napoleon and a 10 pound Parrot fire at a demonstration and later looking back as I was walking away, the bore of the Napoleon looked like the maw of hell. It was plainly visible at 150 yards and the rifle wasn't. The intimidation factor was immense.

I always love to hear a Napoleon fire. The bronze barrel actually produces a bell-like tone.

@ScottWashburn, yes sorry getting my Parrots mixed up with the 3".

Thanks. They do look amazingly similar, but the different colors really help.

At 10mm scale, I don't think you can see the difference, so I will just pains some bronze and others black!

IIRC, the 3" used a somewhat smaller carriage than the Napoleon, one originally designed for the 6-pdr gun. However, at 10mm scale that probably wouldn't be noticeable.

Much looks the same in 10mm at gaming distances on the table. One of the things I do with my 15s (which with my eyes have the same problem lol) is to color code the back EDGE of the base, for example light green or gray or black, for different types of weapons. I'll even use white for HQ etc. With color only on the back edge I 've found the minimal loss in visual realism is more than made up by my knowing what I'm playing with. I know some gamers label their bases, but who can read a 6, 10, or 15mm base label without picking up the mini?? I'll stick with colored edges. Cheers!