Battery I 1st US Artillery 

Live Shooting and Exhibition
 

In the course of a years' events we will sometimes have the chance to actually shoot our rifled cannon live. This means either shooting solid shot at targets or in rare occasions shooting exploding ordnance in exhibition at US Military installations. All of these occasions offer the opportunity to see, feel and hear the sounds and sights that the artilleryman of 1861 – 65  experienced. Besides being a ton of fun and allowing us to rub elbows with active military personel, Civil War experts and enthusiasts accross the country, we come away from these events with an awe of what these guns can accomplish. Made of iron and oak, they were cannon that shot projectiles with great accuracy . They were and are extremely accurate and can hit their target within a mile range as accurately and in most cases much more accurately than modern ordnance (105mm and 155mm guns ). This is simply because the Civil War rifled gun was made to hit a cannon sized target at up to a mile distance when engaged in a gun vs gun duel on a mid 19th century battlefield where every target was something seen by the naked eye. The modern battlefield is a much longer range affair and indirect fire is the rule, not the exception, and modern artillery is supremely designed to rain down shells with pinpoint accuracy on targets many miles distant... something a Civil War era gun crew could never dream of doing.  The Civil War era rifled gun was made in sizes from the 10 pounder Parrott and Ordnance Rifle all the way up to the monster 300 pounder Parrott rifle. Most common were the 3.0 inch Ordnance rifle and Parrott Rifles.