Big brass bullit shell

[mojjax]

I found this in the attic of an abandoned building on our new property . We got an old 1840 farm house last spring on 100 aceres , and about 100 yards out our back door is an even older abandoned house . It is a treasure hunter's dream ! No one has lived in it for the past 40 years , but it has been frequented by many vandals and partiers do to the presents of numerous recent beer cans . I found this shell under some junk .
There are lots of #'s and letters on it - here are some : 105 mm E C B C 179 M2 & M4 HOW. SHELL M1 1944
I was wondering what type of big gun shot this thing ! A tank ? A gun on a battleship ? Any info would be great !
mojjax

 

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[beeper]

That is one hell of a shell, stop a bear for sure!

 

[DigEmAll]

M-102 light towed howitzer. Used from 1919 up until the late 90's, some are probably still in use. Many are still in use in other parts of the world. Fires a 33 pound, 105 mm projectile about 12,000 meters and can fire about 3-4 round per minute.

 

[Mr. Mark]

Neat casing! Keep those war artifacts coming. Looks like someone on that property was a collector of war artifacts. Happy Hunting!

 

[Burdie]

Neat shell and great info from other posts. WTG HH

 

[Snee]

Either a collector, or a souveneir from their own war-time. Stating the obvious here...1944 would be WWII...

 

[Leon]

Very neat old shell,,,
I have one here that used to be my Grandfathers, it's a 75MM, the bullet part is made of wood. Not sure if he did that, or not, but it's looked the same as long as I can remember... We have used this for a bank, it's sit in a corner for years. Weird thing is, I just took it out of the corner I had it setting in, and stuck it behind my monitor. I also just took a picture of it, and now I see one similar on the forum... If you have a leathe, or know someone who does, maybe you could have a wooden bullet made for it. They sure look neat all put together...
Good luck & Happy hunting~

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Thats a really great find...looks like you could use it for an umbrella holder!!....You would think if there is one shell casing ...there will be more. My uncle was bulldozing a rock pile on his farm and found a case of live ammo that had been buried...former owner had been WWII ......so be carefull!

 

[Mr. Mark]

Mojjax, did some digging around, ha ha, and found some info on your casing. The M2 nomenclature is indeed refering to a vehicle drawn artillery piece like the one pictured. The M4 nomenclature refers to a Sherman tank. The Shermans were upgraded in late 1943 to a 105mm cannon in order to provide close artillery support for ground troops, and to offer a better weapon against light to medium armor. They were first delivered in Feb. of 1944. That's pretty neat that yours is headstamped 1944 and M4. Probably one of the first shells designated for Sherman use. The M1 part of the stamp is refering to the type of 105mm. The M1 is a semi-fixed type. This means that the propellant was pre loaded in the brass, but without a projectile. The projectile was added just previous to firing the cannon. This made loading and firing pretty slow, about 8 rounds a min, but allowed independant operators to adjust the type of ammunition used based on the situation in the field. The manufacturer is denoted by the ECBG which is stamped on there as well, but I can't find any info on this particular headstamp yet. I'll let you know. During that era there were alot of commercial facilities that were switched over to war time production, that it could be just about any thing. Anyway, that's all I got, and Happy Hunting
Man I talk to much

 

[DigEmAll]

Mark is correct about the Sherman tank.... I forgot to mention that. Another reason they changed over was that this round was much more accurate than the gun they originally had and it also had a better range and the interchangeable charge types, as mentioned. This round was later changed again to become a "Caseless" round and after firing all you would have floating around inside the tank were 3/4 inch disks that are just the case head. (The back of the casing) A tank would quickly fill up with the full length casings!

 

[day dreamer]

YOUR ALL WRONG ITS A 22 CALIBUR CASEING FOR A SATURDAY NITE SPEACIAL. LOL, Great find.

 

[trk5capt]

I Have to concure, howitzer shell 105mm.

 

[Nana40]

WoW!