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WWII French 75mm High Explosive Shell with Original Red and Yellow Paint

M8owner

Well-Known Member
We do not get too many French made 75mm HE rounds on this side of the pond. We get plenty of US made versions with the bourrelet (it is funny how spell checker on the BOCN site wants to show bourrelet as misspelled word) moved higher up on the projectile. This is my new favorite projectile as it retains its original yellow and red paint. I believe that is projectile was made in France and sold to Poland in the 1930's. I have attached a copy of the German manual for captured French ammunition. What is the difference between the yellow projectiles and the red/yellow projectiles? Explosive fill material?
 

Attachments

  • French 75 Ammo in German Manual.jpg
    French 75 Ammo in German Manual.jpg
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  • French 75mm Red and Yellow Original Paint Close Up.jpg
    French 75mm Red and Yellow Original Paint Close Up.jpg
    303.1 KB · Views: 57
  • French 75 HE with Red and Yellow Original Paint.jpg
    French 75 HE with Red and Yellow Original Paint.jpg
    292.7 KB · Views: 81
the French coloring system denotes the type of explosive and material of the shell:

plain yellow:
steel shell with a nitro compound based explosive

ogive & bourellet yellow, black body:
cast steel shell with a nitro compound based explosive

yellow ogive, black bourellet, yellow body:
grey cast iron shell with a nitro compound based explosive

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yellow ogive, yellow bourrelet, red body:
steel shell filled with nitrate based explosive

yellow ogive, red bourrelet, black body:
cast steel shell filled with nitrate based explosive

yellow ogive, black bourrelet, red body:
grey cast iron shell filled with nitrate based explosive

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yellow ogive, yellow bourrelet, green body:
steel shell filled with a chlorate explosive

green ogive, yellow bourrelet, black body:
cast steel shell filled with a chlorate explosive

Poland used the unchanged French markings...
 
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