Editing Rodman gun (section)

=== Rifled versions ===
[[file:Knox8inchConvRifle01.jpg|thumb|250px|8-inch converted rifle, lined down from 10-inch smoothbore]]

During the War, and immediately after, attempts were made to cast [[rifling|rifled]] Rodman guns. Unsuccessful attempts were made to cast a 12-inch rifle in 1861, an 8-inch rifle in 1862, and another 12-inch rifle in 1868.<ref>Birkhimer 1884, p. 267</ref> However, [[Robert Parker Parrott]] at the Cold Spring Foundry, across the Hudson River from the United States Army Military Academy at West Point, used the Rodman water core method of casting to produce large-bore rifled guns in 200- and 300-pound models. [[Parrott rifles]] that had been cast using the Rodman method were inscribed with the initials WC in order to differentiate those guns from ones that had been cast using ordinary methods. Primarily these guns were used on naval vessels, especially large monitors.
In the 1870s and 1880s, efforts focused on converting existing Rodman guns into rifles. 10-inch Rodman smoothbore guns were converted into 8-inch rifles. The first method used was inserting a wrought iron rifle sleeve through the muzzle; a similar steel sleeve was also used later. The last method involved drilling and [[Tap and die|tapping]] the breech of the 10-inch Rodman and inserting a rifled steel sleeve and screwing it in tight with a threaded breech plug. These breech-inserted guns are easily recognized by the square cascabel  which was designed to provide purchase for screwing the breech plug and liner securely into the gun.

These conversions were not viewed favorably and were primarily seen as cheap stopgaps until modern [[breech-loading]] rifles could be developed and emplaced.<ref>Birkhimer 1884, p. 293</ref> However, the 8-inch converted rifle was widely deployed in fortifications constructed in the 1870s, and remained in service until 1905.