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ANSCH stamped German 77mm HE?

starshell

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Good evening,

Picked up a nice First war German 77mm HE projectile today, 1916 made, with nice markings (pics to follow).
On the base however is stamped ANSCH. Also the shell seems to be filled with Tar, and has a fuze shaped plug fitted??

Anyone have any idea what this means? I'm guessing its an abbreviation of something? I'm sure I've seen it mentioned elsewhere here, but can't find the thread....

Many thanks in advance!
 
It means "Anschuss". It's difficult to translate but someting like proof shot. Anschuss shells were used for many different purposes on firing ranges.

I would be happy to see pictures :tinysmile_shy_t:
 
IMG_4304.jpgIMG_4305.jpgIMG_4314.jpgIMG_4308.jpgIMG_4317.jpgIMG_4311.jpgIMG_4316.jpgIMG_4310.jpgIMG_4315.jpg
Hi Alpini,

Many thanks for your input, much appreciated.
Additional info: The shell has the following stamps on the body:

4 N(Hammer symbol)K 16 A7 (Looks like an odd shaped seven, but as on the base, could be the letter T)
GR
An ch (these stamps have a line above and below them)

(Imperial crown with letter 'u' below)
442

N

And on the base:
4N (hammer symbol)K 16 AT

ANSCH

Sb47 (multiple stamps)

No stamps on fuze plug.

Attached are images as requested, hope you enjoy!
Many thanks again.
 
Yes, it's a K. Gr. 15 A, made from Siemens-Martin steel with drilled hole. It's the german equivalent to the british FS = forged steel shells.

It was made by NeunKirchener Eisenwerke Gebrüder Stumm. The NK stamp can also be found on steel profiles like railway tracks.
 
Hello,
I assume a body of model 1915 (243mm w/o fuze) ?
Hi MINENAZ16

Yes, 243mm exactly, without the fuze.
Many thanks!

Alpini,
Thanks for the superb info.
I take it then that this is a standard HE shell used for proof testing? Do you happen to know what testing grounds/ranges were in use by Germany during the Great war to evaluate such shells?
Thanks again!
 
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Yes in your example it's a standard HE shell which was used (it has all acceptance stamps for a well made shell, just the acceptance stamp for the HE-filling is missing which is logical). Often shells with small failures were used for Anschuss-shells.

We had a lot of firing ranges and on most of them such shells were used. And then also the state arsenals and companies like Krupp had so called "Anschussstände" which were very small and short ranges (about 50 m long) surrounded by thick earth/sand walls or concrete boxes filled with sand/swadust/slag/etc. The shells were just fired into these walls/boxes. The ballistics of such Anschuss-shells didn't play any role, just their weight was important. Examples of tests were:

-testing recoil
-testing strength of the carriage
-testing the lifespan of the barrel (rifling) by firing thousands of such shells.
-testing case lots (part of the acceptance procedure, especially for steel cases)
-testing powder lots (part of the acceptance procedure in powder factories)

and for sure many more...
and for sure many more...
 
Many thanks Alpini,

Always interesting to find out about the background and development of these shells. Great info as ever and a nice insight into German ordnance testing.
Just one last question if I may: Despite thousands of these shells being tested are these shells rare nowadays. Its the first example I've seen, but I'm sure there must be many around?
Many thanks again!
 
With the stamp "ANSCH" they are not that often seen as most of them only had "Bl" stamps or three arrows. And yours is nicely and clear stamped and in good condition (because of the zinc plug)

In calibre 7,7 cm there are also specially produced Anschussgeschosse which are made from cast iron with only a very small hole inside for weight calibration. These are more rare.
 
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Many thanks again Alpini,

Very interesting stuff. Sorry to shower you with questions, but one more sprang to mind.

Were these Anschuss shells ever fitted with different types of fuzes (KZ14, KZ11, EKZ, etc) when tested or were they always fired with just a fuze shaped plug fitted.
The reason I ask is that the 'Tar' inside the shell has what looks like a cavity to accommodate a fuze gaine, which raised the thought that perhaps fuzes were fitted to the shells to evaluate them as well, rather than just testing the projectile?

Thank you for all your help, I'm very grateful.
Cheers!
 
In 99% no fuzes were used, only fuze shaped plugs or in most cases simply flat zinc plugs. In very rare cases they used inert fuzes which were mostly made from bad parts taken from regular production. For example I have seen K.Z.11 Gr. fuzes used as plugs where the time rings were unstamped. The fuze bodys haven't had any of the small parts/screws inside.

It doesn't look like a fuze gaine cavity to me. The tar normally is building this shape when it is cooling down and shrinking. Real cavitys for gaines were machined on a lathe with bronze tools or cardboard containers were used:
 

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Thanks again Alpini, great knowledge and info, thanks for sharing it.
The Tar theory makes sense, and it is a fairly un-uniform shape. A very interesting round by all accounts and very glad to have it in the collection.
Thanks also for the illustration!
Regards!
 
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