US Army 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifles at the Presidio, California
One of two 8-Inch Rifles which are displayed in Pershing Square at the Presidio in California - Photo by Rob of the YouTube channel FirearmsAddict
Two US Army 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifles are displayed in Pershing Square at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. The Presidio has multiple US Army seacoast defense fortifications - the best known being Fort Point underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Many thanks to Rob from the YouTube Channel FirearmsAddict for these photos!
The 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle was a conversion of Civil War era 10-Inch Rodman Smoothbores undertaken from 1876 to 1887. The conversion significantly improved the accuracy and hitting power of the old cast iron guns by boring them out to 13.5 inches and inserting a wrought iron (later steel) rifled sleeve of 8-Inches. Shot weight went from about 125 pounds to 180 pounds. With a propellent charge of 35 pounds, the converted guns were capable of penetrating 7 inches of iron armor at 1,000 yards.
See my article on Rodman Guns: https://www.santee1821.net/ships-forts-and-technology/us-army-rodman-guns-of-the-civil-war
The two rifles at the Presidio are:
US Army 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle (3rd Series) Number 12 converted at West Point Foundry in 1886. Weight as converted was 15,970 pounds. Originally manufactured as 10-Inch Rodman at West Point Foundry (Registry Number 38) in 1865. Weight as originally manufactured: 14,957 pounds.
US Army 8-Inch Muzzle Loading Rifle (3rd Series) - Illegible Registry Number. It was converted at West Point Foundry in 1885. Weight as converted was 16,090 pounds.
Aerial View of the Presidio. Pershing Square is visible in the bottom left quadrant of the photo. Robert Campbell, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Illustration showing an 8-Inch MLR
