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105x617 tank

3

37patt

Active Member
I recently picked up a German 105x617 tank "casing" that I think was made in 1960. The unusual thing is that the entire case is solid and made out of a blue plastic material.

The head stamp reads:
105x617 DM 60
LOS DN-8-103

The case ends where the top of the neck would be and shows a hard yellowish material inside. Would this originally have had a projectile moulded into it that was cut off for some reason or was it finished at the neck?

Would anyone have any idea what it would have been used for, loading practice? Not a lot of information on the web, actually, none so far, so hoping the collective knowledge here will come up with something.

Thanks
 
DM 60 means that its a drill cartridge, the last number in the modelcode donates the type, 0 is drill, 1 is HE, 2 is anti tank with a high explosive (HEAT or squash head) etc.
 
Excellent info blu97, thanks. Will have to investigate drill cartridges now.

Would it originally have had a projectile moulded onto the case portion or were they made with just the case formed?
 
Cantfind any more info but there must have been a projecile mould on it.
 
Sorry to say guys but pictures elude me, it is way to frustrating for this old guy to put them up still.
Here is a more detailed description of its construction. This is from a partly broken one.

There is a round central tube about 4 inches in diameter that runs from the base up to the neck. Around the tube is a strip of foam glued to the tube, there are probably two or three, and the "body" of the shell, which is a hard blue plastic, surrounds this. There is an air gap between the tube and the "body".

Where the projectile would be, the neck opening is a thin solid layer of plastic with two quarter inch by one and a half inch pieces of wood embedded into it. It makes perfect sense that the wood pieces were reinforcement for a projectile that has been cut off for some reason. Total length now is 608mm so it's a bit sorter than a brass case.

Hope this helps for visualizing the case. Thanks again to all.
 
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