Civil War Artillery Schenkl fuse, dug Richmond

Turned brass percussion fuse for the Schenkl artillery shell. The fuse would have originally had an internal plunger with a percussion cap at the end. The plunger would slide forward upon impact and strike a brass anvil cap that was screwed into the top of the fuse, setting off the percussion cap and igniting the gunpowder inside the shell. It measures 1 1/2” in length. This example is from an exploded Schenkl shell and has had the threaded section blown off.

In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction” (see pictures). This is a nice inexpensive piece to add to your artillery or Civil War collection.