4.5 inch Mk 3 Drill projectile

[Andy Naude]

A flee market find by a friend.

I am assuming that this would have been for the seperate loading Mk 3 to . These were used by the South African Navy. i dont think we ever used any fixed 4.45 inch rounds.

The projectile is filled with what looks like charcoal.

 

[ron3350]

Andy. Nice to see a Mk3 Drill. I show my Mk11 Drill. It is only marked on the base:

C DRILL 4.5 in Mk 11 A N I 3-49. MO so it is Australian Navy Cast Iron by Maribyrnong Ordnance 1949. Black painted. Cast iron.

 

[Andy Naude]

Hi Ron. Thank you for sharing.

Is the projectile made of wood?

Andy

 

[ron3350]

No. It is all steel. Are you sure yours is a Drill round? Yellow band inert filled usually means Practice I thought.

 

[ron3350]

Sorry I hit reply by mistake. I can see the band is trimmed so it is a Drill. My error..

 

[Andy Naude]

Hi Ron

The photo is a bit confusing. The "yellow" band is a brass band. The "pink" is a copper band.

 

[gravelbelly]

Hi Ron

The photo is a bit confusing. The "yellow" band is a brass band. The "pink" is a copper band.

The driving band is skimmed and the outside diameter is reduced too allowing the projectile to slide through the gun bore without sticking. The brass piece at the bourelette is to prevent wear to the rifling as the projectile is rammed.

gravelbelly

 

[ron3350]

Some more info on my MK11 Drill. It has no band but you can see the brass piece at the bourelette. I forgot to mention this.

 

[justin]

Andy, great photos, thanks for posting. I have one of these, in pitted condition but have never been able to fully decipher the text on the body. I could read DRILL and 4.5, but nothing more. By comparing your photo with mine, I can make out more text and discover it is dated '57 also. You'll see mine has taken a bit of battering and has lost its lower driving band.