World War 1 shell

First off, "PDP" stands for "Poudreries de Paris" meaning Powder mills of Paris. Where did you come up with "Pinchard Denys" ??. Second, it is a 37mm x 85mm shell, also known in the english speaking world as a one-pounder shell and was developped by Hiram Maxim in the 1880. This caliber was used by all sides in WW1 but this particular exemple is French. It is an exploding shell and probably contained a bursting charge of black powder... If memory serves! It is very difficult to tell if the round is live without separating the shell from the case and unscrewing the fuze. I'm always weary of unscrewing fuzes from old ordnance (especially WW1 and French to boot!) since the filling could (maybe) be picric acid, which tends to leach in the threads and form very unstable explosive salts which WILL explode if subjected to friction (such as in unscrewing a fuze!) If the filling is black powder, than unscrewing the fuze would be relatively safe... But better do it from a safe distance using remote means. These shells were very popular as a bringback souvenir by returning veterans as it was small and easy to neutralise in the field. The fuze pic is fuzzy but it appears to have marks that could suggest it was removed at some time... So it may be empty. Otherwise, it is in very nice shape with the original paint markings visible on the bottom. Try to get it back if your friendly EOD buddies don't blow it up!
 
It would be extremely stupid to attempt to inert that round without detailed knowledge of that particular round including manditory x-rays to guarantee that it is not in any way containing a war chemical such as mustard, phosgene, etc. Leave it with your friend and have him high order it after he has it x-rayed and has permission to. Personnel posted in EOD Centers are not trained in the proper and safe inerting of live ordnance. Specific CFAD and Defence Experimental facilities are the ONLY designated locations in Canada that can remotely disassemble live munitions safely. Screwing around with live WW1 munitions is a sure way to ensure that you live a short life, this also includes the people standing beside you when you do it..
 
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YOU ARE ALL F$CKING LAME!!!!!! Find a big tree and suspend a life size dummy of someone we all don't like. (no names, no pack drill) Hang said dummy with an old chunk of hemp rope, (authenticity counts) Then slide an old vice or anvil inside of it's pants so no one can see and roll camera. Pretend you are "Blondie" (good bad and the ugly)...shoot the rope, the dummy will fall, (if you can shoot at all) vice hidden in pants will detonate shell, and you can blow out all your neighbors windows and set off car alarms!!!!!!

F#CKING A, AND DRINK WHISKEY!!!!!!

THEN BURN THE DUMMEY OR BETTER YET HAVE IT SURROUNDED BY GAS CANS AND PROPANE TANKS.

AND YES, "I'M" HA QUALIFIED!! :D
 
Put it on a shelf and dont let no-one play with it....or

LET ME blow it up....I will let you light the fuse

It REALLY is a dangerous thing to have around....and no one deactivates this stuff anymore...

BIP it...
 
Let’s be careful playing with our toys folks….. ;)

Published last June in the Knowledge Library.....

Casualty of Hobby (click here) http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=517839

U. S. Civil War enthusiast killed cleaning artillery shell

Mary Vallis, National Post
Published: Friday, May 16, 2008

Sam White loved researching history so much he used to joke he wanted to be blasted from an American Civil War cannon when he died.

Instead, the passionate relic hunter was cremated and remembered at a simple ceremony near his Virginia home.

Mr. White, 53, was working on a Civil War artillery shell the size of a beach ball in Chester, Va., on Feb. 18 when it exploded.

Shrapnel flew across the street, crashing through a neighbour's porch roof. The blast left a crater in Mr. White's driveway and prompted a two-day evacuation of his suburban neighbourhood.

"When we got to the entrance of the subdivision, it looked like something out of a sci-fimovie, with police, fire trucks, ambulances, bomb squad," his widow, Brenda White, recalled in an interview yesterday.

Three months later, she is still finding shards of safety glass in the driveway.

Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are soon expected to complete an investigation into Mr. White's death.

Mrs. White hopes it will answer many unanswered questions, including what type of shell caused the blast and what happened to his shoes.

In the meantime, scores of relic hunters who spend their weekends searching for Civil War memorabilia with metal detectors fear Mr. White's death may make their hobby more difficult to enjoy -- and lead to the destruction of artifacts, instead of preservation.

When officials at the nearby Petersburg National Battlefield recently unearthed a 20-kilogram mortar shell while building a road, they immediately called the local bomb squad.

The shell was blown up at a dump rather than being disarmed and preserved.

Surrounding counties are also contemplating new regulations that would govern what happens when live shells are uncovered.

"It's created somewhat of a hysterical response," said Ben Greenbaum, a friend of Mr. White's and president of the Central Virginia Civil War Collectors Association.

Collectors say active shells from the Civil War are relatively safe to handle, in part because the black powder has deteriorated in the 140 years since the conflict.

Only a handful of injuries and deaths from the shells have been reported in the past 50 years.

While most of the thousands of U. S. relic hunters get permission to search on private property, some cross the line by sneaking onto protected federal sites or digging up graves.

A Virginia man was recently charged with stealing an intact shell from a brick building in Petersburg, Va.; police later destroyed it.

Friends and family say Mr. White, a retired UPS deliveryman, was one of the most honest and diligent collectors around.

His expertise and passion for Civil War relics were even known overseas.

He simply loved history and loved to share it with others.

Having grown up near Petersburg, where a famous Civil War siege began in 1864, Mr. White spent weekends roaming Virginia hunting for artifacts. He and son Travis plunged into the James River near Hopewell, Va., to look for century-old ammunition and weapons buried in the muck.

Mr. White also ran a Web site, Sam White Relics, through which he sold cannonballs, bullets and other artifacts.

He also offered his services disarming and preserving Civil War ordnance for $35 each.

"I've done approx. 500 artillery projectiles and still have all my fingers (I must be doing something right, knock on wood)!" said the site, which has since been taken offline.

Mrs. White said her husband also did work for the National Park Service--proof to her that he knew what he was doing.

According to friends and family, he had successfully unloaded 1,500 to 2,000 artillery shells over the years.

Mr. Greenbaum considers Mr. White's death a "quirk of fate." His wife calls it a "freakish accident."

While the ATF's findings have not yet been released, Mrs. White said officials have suggested her husband was not doing anything wrong.

"It was something in the shell itself. They called it a manufacturing defect," she said.

There may have been a pocket of black powder in the bottom of the shell that was not visible, she explained.

While she was not home at the time of the explosion, Mrs. White was told her husband had deactivated the shell and was cleaning its exterior, possibly with a small hammer or hand grinder.

Rumors are also flying through Mr. White's community of collectors.

Mr. Greenbaum said he believes the exploding artifact was a spherical naval shell brought by another collector, which would have been manufactured with extra precautions to make sure it could explode under water.

"I think it was totally a tragic accident," he said.

"I'd like people to learn something from this. Learn that you need to know what you're doing, and take all sorts of precautions so you or others don't get hurt."

mvallis@nationalpost.com
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Regards,
Badger
 
I had one which was live and now resides deep in lake Ontario not worth keeping there are plenty of those rounds which have been deactivaited I have 2 and see them all the time .Take some pics for memories and get rid of it and find one defuzed at a gunshow .
 
ally said:
Made me nervous too, its in the hands of a friend of mine at CFB Kingston , he's with the explosives unit. He didn't know what kind of shell it was either, he said he would see if he could find any info on it, but since I had the pics I figured I'd tap into the resources on CGN.
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Don't let him do anything without your clear understanding and permission! I knew a CF ammo tech who was all set to destroy a reference collection of little odd-ball grenades, warheads and mines turned in to the ammo section in Petawawa over the years- because they weren't in his officially issued identification manual. Deviance must be eliminated. Fortunately his bosses got wind of his over-enthusiasm to blow things up and stopped him from this sort of Philistine behaviour.

But, that shell looks live to me! And some things aren't easy to make safe.
 
If you are looking for volunteers I like to play . . .

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