Civil War Artillery Union Vent Pick (SOLD)

This is another nice item being offered, it is an Artillery Priming Wire/Vent Punch. The iron piece is pointed at one end with a circular loop at the other. It measures 13 ½” long, which would be typical of a field gun. It was inserted through the vent hole of the cannon in order to pierce the cartridge bag seated in the bore. This allowed the flame from the primer to reach the propellant charge.

In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I show a very similar Vent Pick (see pictures). Another example of this piece is on display at the West Point Foundry Museum (see pictures). The artillery tool offered was part of a large Civil War collection I acquired and is in very nice condition.