shell ID?

[mebu]

Can anyone identify this shell? haven't seen it before

Thanks Peter

[ServiceRumDiluted]

6 pounder AP? Or german 57mm?

Handy mills for scale! Over to the people who really know their stuff, could also be from the second unpleasantness, 5cm PaK? French tank round?

[Michael Haselgrove]

Peter,

A difficult question to answer without some measurements - please don't go to take any!

However, using the Mills bombs as a rough scale, I think it is either a 7.62cm German H.E. shell for the infantry gun. This was a converted Russian field gun and was used for close range fire in trench warfare and was sometimes fitted with the pointed L.K.Z 16.m fuze. An alternative suggestion is that it is a 7.7cm 1915 pattern Field Gun H.E shell again fitted with the L.K.Z. 16 m. fuze.

In all probability both my suggestions are incorrect as I find it hard to judge the scale. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will provide the correct answer.

Regards,

Michael.

[Old Tom]

It looks like an AP round and could be post WW1. Where was it found?

Old Tom

[MikB]

The shell looks like 77mm or thereabouts by. comparison with a 61mm Mills bomb body.

The spire point with radiused nose looks like a ballistic cap rather than a piercing point, but that doesn't tell us whether there's a piercing point or a HE shell inside it.

[mebu]

Thanks all for the replies.

Old Tom, it was by a pile of earth close to Bois Carre Cemetery, near Loos

Peter

[Old Tom]

Thanks, does not ring a bell as a WW2 battle site.

Old Tom

[calibre792x57.y]

Change of mind. The projectile appears to have superimposed driving bands. I now think this may be a German 7.5 cm. KwK42 A.P.C.B.C. shell from WW2., but the US M72 round fired by 75 mm M.3 used in the Sherman is very similar - SW

[Guest Stillwell]

I have a few brass casings from WWI.I am new to this and was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the one with the easiest readable markings.It says .... st 29 Polte Magdeburg

and has a date SEPT 1909.I believe my dad brought them back from Belgium in the 1970's.They measure 8cm by just under 23cm long.Most curious what info. anyone could tell me,such as the st 29.I imagine the Polte Magdeberg was a weapon factory in Germany.It would also be nice to know what kind of weapon it was shot from and maybe even what battle it could have been used ? Appreciate any help anyone could give me identifying these.

[CharlieBris]

Try http://www.kaisersbunker.com/cc/- you'll find your cartridge there.

St - stands for Stark (strong) - cartridges were thickened after 1905 to withstand higher breech pressures.

29 is possibly batch no. 29 of 1909 manufactured by Polte Magdeburg.

Regards,

Charlie

[Guest Stillwell]

Thank you Charlie for responding and so quick.Your info. and link have been very helpful and much appreciated.I, also have three Pom Pom shells I believe from the Boer War and wonder if they should be, possibly in a Canadian war museum. Can I ask if these should be polished or left how they are?Your link and others I have been reading have taught me so much.Most of all..... a deep respect for those that fought in these wars ! Thank you again for your help.

[MikB]

Abrasive polishes like Brasso etc. will rub out machining marks and blunt maker's and inspection stamps. Some liquids - I've found Silver Dip does this - will just dissolve oxides without eroding the base metal; but of course, even that will ultimately degrade the piece. It's probably better just to clean it as well as you can with washing-up suds etc. I have a good Polte 1916 10,5 cm howitzer case that I only cleaned that way - but then it was in a fairly tidy state when I got it.