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British 5 inch high explosive

frijoles108

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
Its been a while since i posted last, i came across this recently and couldn't figure it out for certain. I know it is british, it says 5 inch on the bottom in faded stampings. It measures a diameter of 5 inches, not 4.7 or 4.5 even closely, making me think that it is a later variant of high explosive shells for the 60 pounder gun also referred to in some manuals as a 5 inch gun from what I have seen. It is also obviously british by the broad arrows placed on the side with manufacturer initials. I cant tell who it is. Has a few other manufacturer stampings on the side, none in rotating band. Someone seems to have taken liberty of either coating it with copper paint or a chemical coating of copper. Haven't tried figuring how to remove that yet. Would love to hear input on what you guys think it is. From what i have seen the dimensions in diameter and rotating band match taller and earlier high explosive shells of this gun from a 1903 manual, so maybe this is a later shorter variant?
Also I would love some pointers on the fuze, or if anyone has one for sale i am looking for it, of course after the projectile is identified.
P.s. sorry for shiny glare of pictures, but its just a compromise I have to make for a well lit photo and the copper coating on the projectile.
 

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It would appear the projectile you have is -
Shell, B.L. H.E. 5 inch. Howitzer, Light, Mark II(L), III(L) or IV(L)

The original shell weighed 50 lbs, the latter shells weighed 40 lbs, hence the inclusion of 'Light' in the nomenclature.

Mk. II & III are shown as using No. 100 fuze. The Mk. VI a No. 101 fuze.

TimG
 
Thank you tim! does anyone else have a example to compare? And also do you have the diagrams of my projectile?
 
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