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No. 17 Mk 3 N Primers, Electric. Filled Chorley 1960. Not sure what the Navy used them in, but I think one of the 4.5" cartridges and one of the Anti Submarine Mortar cartridges.
No. 17 Mk 3 N Primers, Electric. Filled Chorley 1960. Not sure what the Navy used them in, but I think one of the 4.5" cartridges and one of the Anti Submarine Mortar cartridges.
I have an A/S Mortar Mark 10 case, converted from a 77mm Mark I dated 1948 which has a 17 MK N3 primer dated 1956 fitted. 3 inch cases were also converted for the same mortars.
gravelbelly
They were used in the 4" naval round.NZ would still have had those guns on ships in the '60s.
Possibly they are for refurb/reload or renew,i don't think they blow out when fired like the 4.5" did,jamming the primer in the case.
I cannot imagine any circumstances when a damaged round or primer was replaced with a new primer on board a ship. Damaged or misfired ammo was consigned to the deep.
Some primers were used to test the gun firing circuits, screwed into an empty case which was cut off short. After the test the fired primed was ditched overboard and the test case cleaned up for next time.
Interesting discussion. I was not present but around 1990 a friend of mine went to Cerberus Navy open day. They fired 4 or 4.5" guns, Bofors and mortars out to sea at targets as well as .50 cal at drone targets. He stated that a mis-fire occurred and they removed the long primer from the large case and replaced it before firing again. Not war time conditions but they must store spare primers for reloading perhaps in a 1960's box like this one.
Wish I was there to see the event. My friend was not a collector but was excited with the firing display.
Cerberus is a Navy centre at Flinders, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. Ron.
Yes, too long ago to remember all the details. Obviously it would have been done at a safe distance from the public but a non-collector asked me about the long primer he saw or was shown after the replacement. I have no more comments.
I suspect that the larger (4" & 4.5") guns were not firing projectiles and full charges but just a primer to make a satisfying bang. You would be surprised by the level of noise that a primer makes in a long barrel.
During my RN service days I and my team were preparing for a shoot, the preps included testing firing circuits with primers. The test cases were chambered for .5" Tubes and we had loaded one into each of the four guns awaiting an opportunity to fire them. Unfortunately, on aircraft carriers, the "Airey-Fairies" ruled the roost over us lowly "Fish-Heads" and tended to obstruct our work. We were eventually given the OK to train the guns outboard and shoot, but only allowed three minutes. I ran from the bridge to the turrets and gave the order to shoot but realised too late that we hadn't removed the Tampions or muzzle covers. Well, those little 0.5" tubes, about the size of a .410 shotgun cartridge made an impressive job of blowing all four tampions clear of the ship to land in a nice group about 100 yards away.
A great story. Love it. I remember I was told there were floating targets off shore that my friend looked at through binoculars and could see the hits. I am of course not sure if they used Bofors or the big guns on these. I think I remember him saying that water pumped through the gun or mount before the firing.
Again I was not there and wish I could have seen my collectables in action. All too long ago. I have a .5" tube in the collection, V S electric.Hard to find here.
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