alastaircox Posted 14 October , 2015 Share Posted 14 October , 2015 I purchased the attached for a couple of pounds and am already starting to regret it - I simply cannot figure out what it is! It is 37mm diameter, solid steel, pointed at one end, slightly hollowed at the base, 125mm long and approximately 3.8lbs /1.55kg in weight. Hand marked to the base BC1456 I am guessing a 37mm kinetic/armour piercing round but if so, from what era, country and weapon? Vickers produced a similar sized round but nothing so heavy as this piece. It may of course be nothing to do with the military! Many thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14276265 Posted 14 October , 2015 Share Posted 14 October , 2015 It looks like the AP core (and possibly an experimental variant with the markings on the base) for the WWII British 17pdr APDS* projectile. The production tungsten carbide core for that round was 127mm length, 38mm diameter, and 1.74kg mass. *Edit - APDS is Armour Piercing, Discarding Sabot. 265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 14 October , 2015 Share Posted 14 October , 2015 Have you tried a file (ideally an expendable one!) on part of it - say the chip in base showing in pic 2. If it's tungsten carbide you'll blunt the file and fail to cut the projectile. Regards, MikB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastaircox Posted 14 October , 2015 Author Share Posted 14 October , 2015 It strongly reacts to a magnet, hence the assumption that it is steel. I believe tungsten is weakly magnetic but nothing like this. That said, it is incredibly heavy for the size. I will try a file in the morning and report back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14276265 Posted 14 October , 2015 Share Posted 14 October , 2015 Tungsten carbide on its own is not magnetic, but tungsten carbide powder sintered with cobalt or nickel, as used in WWII AP cores, will respond to a magnet because of the cobalt/nickel matrix. Try a new hacksaw blade on it - it won't touch tungsten carbide. 265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastaircox Posted 14 October , 2015 Author Share Posted 14 October , 2015 Will do, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14276265 Posted 14 October , 2015 Share Posted 14 October , 2015 Approximating the volume of the projectile to be that of a cylinder of radius 1.9cm and length 10cm (i.e. knocking a bit off the measured 12.5cm for the shaped nose and the base recess), the volume is pi x radius squared x length = 113 cm3. Mass is 3.8lb or 1.73kg (1730g). Therefore expected density is mass/volume = 1730/113 = 15.3 g/cm3 Since the density of tungsten carbide is 15.6 g/cm3 and steel is 7.8 g/cm3, it would seem likely that the projectile is indeed tungsten carbide. 265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastaircox Posted 15 October , 2015 Author Share Posted 15 October , 2015 A new hacksaw blade and a lot of enthusiasm on my part did little more than polish the surface, confirming your identification of a tungsten carbide alloy. Thank you both for your input - very much appreciated. I think I was headed it the right direction but need to remember that all that is magnetic is not necessarily steel! I shall pass it to my brother, who collects WW2 items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now