6 Pdr shell

[hobster]

Hi there, I believe this a 6 Pdr armour piercing shell but what has me stumped is the base as there is usually a hole where the tracer was and as you can see there appears to be something else in its place. All I can tell you is that the circular item in question is made of a different material to the main shell. Any help regarding these issue would be greatly appreciated,thanks.

 

[Bierjaeger]

[pendantry on] A solid projectile is shot not shell. [pendantry off]

 

[flak18]

If that doesn't discourage him from asking questions, nothing will !!!!! Anyway, to return to the subject at hand, I think it is just a space for a larger tracer capsule with some sort of plug in place. I have seen larger ones on APCBC projectiles. From the divided driving band this seems to be a US 57mm. Keep up the good work.

 

[TimG]

Is 'pendantry' the same as pedantry?

TimG

 

[spotter]

Is 'pendantry' the same as pedantry?

TimG

its somewhere in cornwall i think

 

[hobster]

Hi there Flak 18,
Thanks for that will try and find some diagrams of US 57mm SHOT :wink: . Steve

 

[flak18]

Found another one like yours in New Zealand. I think it can only be a different mark of tracer cavity. All mine have the smaller cavity but I am certain I have had some like yours in the past. Matt

 

[hobster]

Cheers Matt, have found a few in the past with the smaller cavity I think you are talking about but they were always empty due to tracer element being burnt away and am curious as to why there would be a plug inserted instead of just being filled with tracer element as I would have thought this would have been a cheaper and quicker option? Steve

 

[Gspragge]

I have a ww2 12pdr practice with a brass plug instead of a tracer, so it could be fitted for night firing if needed. But those are
separate loading ---- But if you can measure the threaded hole I can compare.

 

[hobster]

Hi there Gspragge,
The 'plug' is about 25mm in diameter but is not made of brass and is flush with the base of the projectile and cannot see anyway that it could be removed. Do you know of anywhere where I could download some diagrams of US 57mm projectiles? . Thanks again for the help. Steve

 

[hobster]

Hi there,here is some more info that I have found out about this projectile. I now believe it to be very similar to the ones in the attached photos but the base is still puzzling me.. Further research has led me to the following information that there are different versions (4 according to my research) and the fact that one version of this projectile were filled with explosives (M86) however these apparently were the APC-T projectiles but how would you tell if the projectile was found unexploded and without the nose cone? Please see the following photos,they make interesting reading regarding the 57mm projectiles from world war 2 and hope they may benefit others in researching these projectiles. Steve.