WW2 AMMO Found on FL beach

[Eddie Current]

Went dry sand hunting at ST Pete Beach today with my ATPRO. I knew that the beaches have recently been replenished, which usually means that the targets would be few and far between. They were.

BUT, within 5 minutes a target hit with big sound and I dug a large bullet casing. I rescanned the hole and hit again and dug the actual projectile. This thing was huge. The casing measured at about 4 inches.

The casing showed the marks of SL 43, which, after researching, indicates that it was made in ST Louis in 1943 and is a 50 caliber, probably fired by a fighter plane using a Browning M2 machine gun, as the area was used as a practice range during the war.

I wonder what other type of stuff the dredges might put back on the beach
Finding a 70 year WW2 artifact like this just made my day!

 

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[UnderMiner]

I found the exact same type of 50 cal bullet once and only once, stamped "S L 43" just as yours, in Little Neck Bay, Long Island N.Y. back in 2003. Still no idea how it could have got there other than it fell from a plane or a boat during the war time. I bet you are right, these must have been from training missions conducted in the area long ago. Here is a picture of mine, only ever found one, they must be quite rare finds for our areas:

 

[treblehunter]

Cool find, I found one in someones yard here in town.

 

[dirtlooter]

I found one in a school yard here in Ark, possibility for some of them is that there's a lot of national guard people everywhere and there are people who actually own guns that shoot them

 

[Bum Luck]

I found one in a school yard here in Ark,..............

These things, in the eyes of a 5th grader, are cooler than shooter marbles. Well, maybe 40 years ago ...........

 

[Eddie Current]

Yes, it is probably that 5th grader still left in this 65 year old body that likes this type of stuff!