Artillery shells deactivated or not ??

[Manager]

Can you identify the attached and how do I confirm that they are deactivated ?




I have been offered a few artillery shells by a local widow , her husband kept them on a shelf in his office for many years,

I would love to have them, but the question is , how do I know / test to confirm they are deactivated



Thank you

 

[xxxx]

Hello,

At first glance you can tell immediately by the rifling band at the bottom of the projectile that this has been fired. The rifling band which is usually made from brass (a soft metal) is very slightly wider than the bore of the barrel, this is purposefully the case so that when a projectile is fired it cuts grooves in the band to engage the rifling along the bore to create spin and increase accuracy. These lines indicate that this is the case and this projectile has been fired.

I would image that this projectile has been recovered and the fuse is from an unfired version as is in perfect condition. I suggest you wait for further clarification on this site before proceeding as other members will have their own advise.

 

[Yodamaster]

I think it other,

also SdKfz251 say, your shell has been fired. That will say something other, that all the securities of the fuze are away. All the mechanisms are ready to function. We often find fired projectiles with minor degradations.
The fact that it is possible that the fuze is coming of another shell is probable, but if you turn this fuze out, you risk to do function the shell.
The best thing you can do is : call up the police and let do the Bomb Disposal Technicians !


Yoda

 

[Weasel]

Hi Manager,
Yoda is quite correct, although the driving band shows the shell to have been fired and the fuze appears to be in as new condition and possibly from another projectile that is no guarantee of the likely hood of it being inert. As any member of EOD will tell you if you can't see into it then treat it as live. There are procedures in place to deal with this sort of thing if you have any doubts about anything you come across. I will attach these below for you. Not worth risking anything for a lump of metal however good it may seem at the time.

Reporting live ordnance
Within the UK we have a system in place for reporting suspect items of Ordnance, wether dug up, found, in a collection or shop etc etc.

First of all, contact the Police, they will put in place a system to have the item removed or destroyed by an EOD team that are always on 24/7 standby for the public safety (its their job, so dont be sorry).

In the event of it being free from explosive they do have the jurisdiction to hand back to you as it is your property and not theirs unless it has explosive inside (or unless you have stolen it).

Don't worry about speaking with the Police, rather you be safe than loosing parts of your body and it gives them something different to deal with. They will not arrest you (normally) or put you in court unless you are doing something very dodgy / terrorism / working outside normal rules of FAC and/or explosive handling, producing something nasty, have a launch mechanism for a missile (please check home office guidance or police guidelines).

The above is for UK but other countries will have similar procedures in place

Best regards Weasel

 

[Yodamaster]

Hi Manager,
Yoda is quite correct, although the driving band shows the shell to have been fired and the fuze appears to be in as new condition and possibly from another projectile that is no guarantee of the likely hood of it being inert. As any member of EOD will tell you if you can't see into it then treat it as live. There are procedures in place to deal with this sort of thing if you have any doubts about anything you come across. I will attach these below for you. Not worth risking anything for a lump of metal however good it may seem at the time.

Reporting live ordnance
Within the UK we have a system in place for reporting suspect items of Ordnance, wether dug up, found, in a collection or shop etc etc.

First of all, contact the Police, they will put in place a system to have the item removed or destroyed by an EOD team that are always on 24/7 standby for the public safety (its their job, so dont be sorry).

In the event of it being free from explosive they do have the jurisdiction to hand back to you as it is your property and not theirs unless it has explosive inside (or unless you have stolen it).

Don't worry about speaking with the Police, rather you be safe than loosing parts of your body and it gives them something different to deal with. They will not arrest you (normally) or put you in court unless you are doing something very dodgy / terrorism / working outside normal rules of FAC and/or explosive handling, producing something nasty, have a launch mechanism for a missile (please check home office guidance or police guidelines).

The above is for UK but other countries will have similar procedures in place

Best regards Weasel

To belgian BOCN members (and other collectors), we have the same procedure in Belgium.
Please, call up before the accident !
We must came in after an accident too, and that's not so funny !
Call up the police, they shall call us up and our interventions are completely free !!!


Yoda

 

[Manager]

Update

June 2013

it's taken a long time to get the police / Royal Navy to attend ( I expected 33 regiment )

1 x deactivated
2 x very suspect - removed immediated for safety

reminder to all collectors,. just because it's been on the shelf for years, does not mean it's safe

regards

 

[spotter]

thank you for the update Manager