Aetillery shell

[R. S. Morris]

Have some pics of a shell I would like to I.D. Looks to new to me for Civil war, but I don't have a clue. Was found in the Mississippi, Louisiana area in a riverbank.

Thank you very much

 

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[Tommybuckets]

Awesome! Does it have a lead sabot ? ring on the base? Looks period to me but I m no expert. Cool! Don't keep that thing in the house.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Concur with you, doesn't look like any of the projectiles from CW that I know but the guy to ask is "Cannon Ball Guy"! Welcome to T-Net

 

[TimberCrack]

Its an Artillery shell except more modern than Civil War...Looks like WW! type due to the sharp nose..plus the rifling band at base has a more tighter twist and many more riflings...due to the plug in the base I'd say it was a practice dummy round---made not to explode..

 

[Icewing]

You would have to do some measuring but it 'looks' a lot like an inert 106mm M346A1 HEP projectile Recoilless shell.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=M346A1&FORM=HDRSC2&PC=MOZB

 

[R. S. Morris]

thanks guys, certainly helping me narrow down the search.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

BLK HOLE wrote:
> Concur with you, doesn't look like any of the projectiles from CW that I know but the guy to ask is "Cannon Ball Guy"!

R.S. Morris, pre-20th-Century artillery projectiles are my primary area of relic-study. In collecting them and doing research on them, I've also come across a lot of info about 20th-century ones. For those, a crucial ID-clue is the presence or absence of a fuze, and if present, its location on the projectile. Yours has no fuze on its nose, and it appears to have a Tracer nozzle in the center of its base, rather than having a base-fuze. Combing both of those two clues means your projectile is a Solid-Shot... not an explosive shell. In particular, Tracer-based Solid projectiles are used for training and practice... which fits with your projectile having been found in the US. In my opinion, it is from sometime in the first half of the 20th-Century.

Precise measuring will tell you whether it is a 100 or 105 or 110mm (etc.) caliber projectile.

Important:
Please note, I said "COMBINING" the two clues means it is not an explosive projectile. With post-civil-war artillery projectiles, the mere absence of a fuze in the projectile's nose does NOT automatically mean it isn't an explosive one. Many 20th Century shells had a fuze located in the center of their base.

In regard to yours... the small (3/8" or so) empty shallow hole in the center of its base is the clue which tells us it is a Tracer projectile.

 

[R. S. Morris]

Wow....thank you very much......I have a lot to digest there.

 

[Hawks88]

Nice find. Congrats