Benny:
Your message has prompted me to think that Guns used by the army were painted black and by the navy, gray. I have no way to comfirm this but, gray was used by navies and is a traditional color for the ships, guns and equipment. This also could account for the color shades differant than those usually seen in pictures of army artillery.

Your 7 inch Brooke rifle was manufactured by the confederate Selma Naval Ordnance Works in Selma, AL, in August 1863. It was Shipped to Admiral Buchanan's command in Mobile Al in January, 1864. It indeed, served on the C.S.S. Tennessee which is verified by the book "The Big Guns" previously mentioned by me. The Tennessee was captured in August 1864 as was your gun. Your gun is a double banded type with an intended weight of 15,000 pounds. The rifling is 7 grooves with a right-hand twist. Selma cast of all types, 102 guns of which 75 were shipped, or a 74% acceptance rate. They made a total of 54 7" rifles, yours was one of the ten 7" rifles cast shorter than the 146.15" intended overall length. It was still shipped as a 7" rifle. Most, if not all of this you already know.

Your gun looks in good condition as its picture appears on page 133 of the book previously cited. It has been a rare opportunity to actually view a gun being discussed here. Thanks for this pleasure.

Sadly, Wayne Stark, one of the co-authors just recently passed away and we have lost a true gun expert. Gladly though, this book was published and saved much of his information.
Regards
Ron