Un-known Sub munition

[Spaceinvader]

I recently got this, I know its some kind of submunition, and im thinking some kind of artillery dispensed anti-tank kind. It has the word Inert on the side, and a copper shaped charge cone on the inside. Its missing the drag chute or cord. Its also fairly small too. The body is made of turned steel, and has no paint on it at all. Its almost like someone stole it off the production line. Ive looked through a bunch of papers and books and cannot find ANYTHING that looks or described as this. Any help is appreciated.

 

[US-Subs]

I recently got this, I know its some kind of submunition, and im thinking some kind of artillery dispensed anti-tank kind. It has the word Inert on the side, and a copper shaped charge cone on the inside. Its missing the drag chute or cord. Its also fairly small too. The body is made of turned steel, and has no paint on it at all. Its almost like someone stole it off the production line. Ive looked through a bunch of papers and books and cannot find ANYTHING that looks or described as this. Any help is appreciated.

Sorry, not a submunition. It is a commercial piece, commonly referred to as an oil well perforator, or a perf charge. They are loaded into specially built pipes and lowered into a deep well, then detonated to fracture rock and allow better flow of oil-etc. They come in many different sizes and configurations, yours is one of the more common sold. Be careful that you keep the inert markings intact, as there is normally no way to tell the inert apart from the live.

 

[US-Subs]

Many manufacturers, dozens of designs, here are a couple.

 

[Spaceinvader]

Oh wow! Very interesting, not the kind of Ordnanace I normally collect but none the less still an interesting piece! Thanks so much!

 

[weberoed]

Like US SUbs said, it is extremely hard to tell live from inert on these. About the only way I have ever been able to tell if they are inert is if the liner (cone) will come out without really forcing it. Depending on which model you have if live you can have some pretty powerful HE there. It's amazing how much armor one of these little things will penetrate. For awhile I used them to low order projectiles and also det a few

 

[Spaceinvader]

Well that makes me a little nervous, mine just says inert, can't always trust that though. The cone in mine I don't think comes out, but it's cracked a bit. I think if I cut the glue around the edge it might come out ( don't think I'm gonna do that. Ever) but it has some weight to it.

 

[weberoed]

if it's marked iner then it may be OK, I was talking about items that you can't tell

 

[US-Subs]

if it's marked iner then it may be OK, I was talking about items that you can't tell

I'm not sure how far I would trust the markings, they can be seen in the first photo.

 

[Spaceinvader]

If it helps at all, there is a hole in the top between the to prongs, that seems to be filled with clay/putty. Also the full word "inert" is on it, just the lower half of the T has rubbed off.

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

I would metal stamp it for the next 50 years of use. As a matter of interest the oil well people also have a corrosive liquid that is ejected under very high velocities to open pipes. It also makes a fine munitions disrupter that contains explosive. Cheers, John

 

[US-Subs]

If it helps at all, there is a hole in the top between the to prongs, that seems to be filled with clay/putty. Also the full word "inert" is on it, just the lower half of the T has rubbed off.

The hole at the top is the point of initiation. Typically detonating cord is run through the prongs and across the hole. The issue is not whether the inert markings are partially rubbed off or not, but that they are hand written. Anyone may have done this, and it is not generally considered reliable markings if challenged.

Here are some pictures of one of mine - a different model - with the factory/vendor markings.

 

[peteblight]

Here's one in action

Pete

 

[Spaceinvader]

Well, what do you guys think I should do with it?

 

[US-Subs]

You already know.

 

[peteblight]

Add some det cord and make a hole in something?