This projectile was
patented by Dr. John B. Read on November 24, 1857,
patent #18,707. It was found at the site of the test range at Fort Monroe,
Virginia. On the flat base are six small holes around the outside diameter extending
underneath the sabot, which aided the propellant gases in expanding the sabot to better
fit the cannon's rifling. Another pattern has twelve holes drilled into the base.
This variety of Read projectile was never manufactured during the American
Civil War.
