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3 in howitzer headstamp help.

13th battalion

Active Member
hi Guys,
Im trying to identify the headstamps on a 3in howitzer case I have. Ive looked through the internet but cant find these particular letters. On it. it has ' 3 HOW' with a roman numeral 'I' underneath it. At 3 o clock. it has the 'RLB' (the manufacturer, i guess). At 4 o clock it has 'CF'. At 7 0 clock, it has what looks a double stamped broad arrow with the number 83 underneath. At 9 o clock it has LOT 366.
The center circle has No. I II HC broad arrow and a number 4 between two bars. at the bottom it says 5266 and underneath CY 9-42 with a small 'p' underneath.
Any help would be very much appreciated.

thanks
Steve
 
The I indicates that it is a Mark 1 case.

RLB is the manufacturer, Royal Ordnance Factory Birtley, Tyne and Wear.

CF Indicates that it was loaded with a full charge of cordite propellant.

LOT 366 Is the case manufacturing lot number.

The other markings are various inspection stamps.

I II on the primer indicates Number 1 Mark 2. This is the primer type.

HC is most likely the manufacturer's mark. Unfortunately I do not know who this was.

The CY 9-42 on the primer indicates that it was filled at ROF Chorley in September 1942.

I'm sure some of the other members will be able to fill in anything I missed.
 
It must be a lower case 'q' denoting the presence of Composition Q rather than Composition A.
Drawings in technical publications always show this as a capital (upper case) Q because that is how they are stamped by ROFs making the empty primer bodies.
Those made by small companies to meet wartime demands such as HC (Hercules Cycles Co, Birmingham, UK) were sometimes stamped with a handwriting (lower case) 'q', for various reasons.
I have occasionally seen these in service, but I cannot say that they are common.
 
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