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I present to you the cutaways of a 77 tracer.
Rare documentation about this projectile, the only one I have is this extract from the archives of Vincennes.
Maybe you have others?
Thx
Nothing to find about the conversion to a smoke tracer. Such shells usually were used by BAK (Ballon-Abwehr-Kanonen) for firing at Baloons. Have seen such Smoke Tracers also in 75 and 65 mm.
Basically it's a "Feldgranate 96 A". Also the stamps are interesting because they are completely readable. They say that it was machined by "Pe" (unknown :hmmmm2. It would be interesting which year stamp is behind the "Pe" (can't read it on the picture)? Or isn't it a year mark but "Pels"? A year mark behind the machining factory is unusual and against regulations.
The cavity of the shell has been drilled out (A) and it is made from "Thomasstahl" (T) bar steel blanks which were delivered by the "AEH" = "Adolf-Emil-Hütte" from "Esch sur Alzette" in Luxembourg. The single "N" Stamp below the "A T" stamp means that it has a new type (copper saving) driving band which is also good visible on the cut surface.
I think "Pe" machined a normal F.Gr.96 A and did not do the conversion to a smoke tracer shell.
Just want to add this advertisement from a German newspaper of 1918 about the Henry Pels & Co. company because I just found it accidently during sorting work. In this advertisement the company is looking for an other company which is able to machine a "large number of head pieces of L.F.H.Gr. 10,4". In reality they are talking about the "10,5 cm lange Feldhaubitzgranate". I know this thread is about the 7,7 cm F. Gr. 96 A but the advertisment is still a good proof that they made steel shells at all. It was a common practise that the shell producing companies "outsourced" the machining of the separate screwed in head-pieces.
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