Artillery projectile questions for the experts

RyanC said:
Due to the rusted condition of these projectiles and no diameter measurments of the drive band(which would give you the proper mm of the round, I'm guessing 105mm or 76mm) combined with the damaged fuse, not being able to make out the colour to be sure of the filler( I'm guessing HE for High Explosive due to the PD fuse (Point detonating) and the shape of the round behind the driving band) I wouldn't want to be your neighbour. Are they empty? You have a couple options. Number 1, Keep them and and if they are HE solidify your spot in the next printing of the darwin awards endangering yourself and those around you. Number 2, make sure all your leagal stuff is secured properly and call your local police detachment and tell them you have 3 x military proctectiles, when they get there show the bomb tech that shows up all the pics you have and tell them all you know about them ie possibly 105mm, clear a spot for the robot to get to them and be glad there out of your hands and you didn't end up in the new issue.

I think the one with the marks on the drive band is an illumination round carrier shell, its probably empty?
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I'm curious, what is your explosive background?
 
Kinda surprising that they didn't use a water disruptor. I'm no expert but one would <think> that at least makign a serious effort to avoid a detonation would be preferable whenever practical.

Beater said:
i had a similar experiance a few years back. was at the leth gunshow, had my tables and was happy. saw an older fella come in the door with a bag of stuff. he looked a bit lost, so i asked" what ya got in the bag?" he came over and opened it up. had a 2" morter he wanted to sell. said he had brought it back from the war. as soon as i saw the red band, and when i picked it up, and it was HEAVY, i knew i was in trouble. i turned it over and it even had the lift charge in it.
long story short, i bought it, packed it in newspaper, in a 50 cal can and brought it home. next day i thought id go berry it or throw it in the lake. i had left it outside, in the middle of the yard on the deck of an old truck. when i opened the box, i smelled a funny smell, nitro weeping out of it somewhere.
i never touched it again, called the feds. they came, and it happened to be a fellow i knew ( RCMP) and he called the DOD to send someone. they said oh yea no worryes its not live blah blah blah. the officer put me on the phone and the dod guy asked a few questions. they decided maybe they should come out.
2.5 hours later, 2 gents in uniform drove in the yard. all chipper and happy. asked where it was, all smiles. they walked over and opened the box. things got real quiet real fast. slowly closed the box and backed away.
said they didnt even want to transport it, to dangerous. asked if i owned land hear. yes i do. how far away? 1 mile. can we blow it hear? why sure you can.
so they took it very very carefully into a coulie and blew it up with some C4.
and dammit, i lost a perfectly good 50 cal can.
so the moral of the story is, i like to THINK i maybe saved someones life, had the old timer sold it to a kid, or someone who knew nothing about projectiles and such.
so unless you KNOW, be very very carefull
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RobSmith said:
Kinda surprising that they didn't use a water disruptor. I'm no expert but one would <think> that at least makign a serious effort to avoid a detonation would be preferable whenever practical.
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Because...disruptors are for home made ka-bombs in cardboard boxes...not manufactured, cast iron artillery
 
The first two shells are (most probably) 25 pounders projectiles (probably High Explosive) while the last is an 18 pounder shrapnel projectile. RyanC seems to be speaking right out of his ass so do not pay any attention to him!

The good news on the 25 pdrs is that they are usually filled with TNT and not another explosive that degrades badly over time like Picric acid... The bad news is that they are filled with TNT! It is impossible to know if they are loaded without removing the fuses and removing the fuse is a bad idea unless you do it remotely in an isolated area. Mistakes with live ordnance are usually not funny...

Call an EOD guy...
 
Beater said:
i had a similar experiance a few years back. was at the leth gunshow, had my tables and was happy. saw an older fella come in the door with a bag of stuff. he looked a bit lost, so i asked" what ya got in the bag?" he came over and opened it up. had a 2" morter he wanted to sell. said he had brought it back from the war. as soon as i saw the red band, and when i picked it up, and it was HEAVY, i knew i was in trouble. i turned it over and it even had the lift charge in it.
long story short, i bought it, packed it in newspaper, in a 50 cal can and brought it home. next day i thought id go berry it or throw it in the lake. i had left it outside, in the middle of the yard on the deck of an old truck. when i opened the box, i smelled a funny smell, nitro weeping out of it somewhere.
i never touched it again, called the feds. they came, and it happened to be a fellow i knew ( RCMP) and he called the DOD to send someone. they said oh yea no worryes its not live blah blah blah. the officer put me on the phone and the dod guy asked a few questions. they decided maybe they should come out.
2.5 hours later, 2 gents in uniform drove in the yard. all chipper and happy. asked where it was, all smiles. they walked over and opened the box. things got real quiet real fast. slowly closed the box and backed away.
said they didnt even want to transport it, to dangerous. asked if i owned land hear. yes i do. how far away? 1 mile. can we blow it hear? why sure you can.
so they took it very very carefully into a coulie and blew it up with some C4.
and dammit, i lost a perfectly good 50 cal can.
so the moral of the story is, i like to THINK i maybe saved someones life, had the old timer sold it to a kid, or someone who knew nothing about projectiles and such.
so unless you KNOW, be very very carefull
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Video......pictures maybe? i know i would have taken videos or pics
 
RyanC the proper term would be "exuding nitroglycerin". I gather by your ending, that you are a field engineer? That explains a lot. Yes, the round on the left is a 25 pdr HE round, fitted with a No 119 fuze and the second round is a base ejection carrier round with the remnants of either a No 213, No 221 or No 222 time and percussion fuze, but then you know that right? Where I work and we find a 25 pdr base ejection blind, we suspect that it could contain one of the following, sand, water, tar, smoke canisters, flares, parachute illumination assembly, BBC (brombenzylcyanide), MS (Mustard Simulant), H (Mustard), CG (Phosgene) and handle it as a worse case scenario. The red ring, just below the fuze on the 2nd round was used until 1969, on British ammunition only to indicate the presence of explosive material, but you knew that, right? One of the really difficult parts of identifying 25 pdr Base ejection round is the fact that 5 different drive bands and 4 different base plates were used. By the way, you've never felt a shockwave until you've gone thermobaric!!
 
I asked the fellows that took the shells away if they would be able to let me know the outcome. I gave them my email address and they said they would see if it was possible to send some photos or a video. If I get anything back, I'll be sure to post it here. I also asked if they had any "traders", but they just looked at me like I was a little nuts and said "No". Thanks for all the concern.
 
Hey garand did you hear anything about that artillery shell that was found in that one elementary school in the hat here? Do you live near suffield, cause that is really the only area where I can think that your backyard was part artillery range at one time. My backyard used to be a ww2 airstrip :)
 
This thread brings to mind the You-Tube video taken from a Blackhawk of a group of indigenous soldiers digging a 155 out of the roadway. They must of thought because the impact hadn't set the round off it was safe. One guy was even digging with the muzzle of his AK when the thing functioned. The crater was quite impressive, and beyond what one would get from a 50 pound box of commercial powder. You don't want that in your house. Or any of these for that matter until proven safe . . .

Range clearance
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Proving Safe
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Proven Safe
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Over the years we've uncovered air delivered bombs, rockets, mortar shells (many of which still contained the cast explosive) and a variety of artillery shells. Thus far we haven't come across any exotic fills, but the guys at 17 Wing are on my speed dial.
 
outoftowner said:
Hey garand did you hear anything about that artillery shell that was found in that one elementary school in the hat here? Do you live near suffield, cause that is really the only area where I can think that your backyard was part artillery range at one time. My backyard used to be a ww2 airstrip :)
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Question 1: As a matter of fact, I know quite a bit about it, but I am not at liberty to discuss it at this time. If it ever becomes a matter of public record, no problem.

Question 2:Yes
 
myenfield said:
They didn't get a chance to see the empty one, nor any of the Mills bombs, ammunition, rifle grenades, etc I have in my basement :D .
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thats good...

otherwise we would have been laffing at you on the 6;00 news after the 'authorities' had saved us from another terrorist threat

lets see the 'safe' boom stuff.....sounds like you have a good stash
 
myenfield said:
I asked the fellows that took the shells away if they would be able to let me know the outcome. I gave them my email address and they said they would see if it was possible to send some photos or a video. If I get anything back, I'll be sure to post it here. .
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Not hearing back from them is not a good sign. Oh well, better them than you.
 
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