75 x 170R Austrian (1896)

[Andy Naude]

Found this item here in South Africa. So quite possibly an Anglo Boer War relic. I can't seem to find any reference to this case at all.

Calibre: 75 mm

Case Length: 170mm

Rim Diameter: 87 mm

Head stamp: BERNDORF 1896

 

[Vasco Da Gama]

Many thanks for this posting Andy. Pictured is a case I have had for a number of years, picked up in the North West of England, where I do find Boer War souvenirs. The measurements are the same, the one I have may have been repaired, hence the R in the headstamp (previously discussed on BOCN). My understanding is the factory at Berndorf was a subsidiary of Krupp at this period. I think we are looking for an Krupp export gun from the early 1890s.

 

[Snaphaan]

These shells were fired by the 7,5cm Krupp: Schnellfeuer-Felkanone L/24 imported by the ZAR in 1895/6.

I suspect the R marked cases were recycled and refilled at Modderfontein explosives works during the war. Many of them have cracked top rims, indicating case hardening from repeated use.

Full story on the guns here:

https://www.angloboerwar.com/images/pdf/OVSAC_11_BoerKruppGuns_Rev1.pdf