90 x 247 Harpoon Gun Case

[Andy Naude]

These cases have bugged me for many years. And they appear from time to time here in Cape Town. Recently a friend asked me to assist with the identification of the case, of which he has four. This time around I was able to use Jan Janssens book "Big Gun Shell Cases".

Some of the cases bear the Bofors logo. One was made by Raufoss. And one in stamped K.F.C.

Mouth Diameter: 90 mm

Case Length: 247 mm

 

[Hoeksel]

Often found in Northern Europe as well, I found several (also other cases with different dimensions) in Sweden.

 

[ozziammo]

I also have, RAUFOSS & KFC stamped whaling gun carts. The KFC maybe of Japanese origin?? Regards Ozzi.

 

[Hoeksel]

The primer in the K.F.C. case is the same as the Raufoss made case. Could be Japanese made (K.F.C.) or exported to Japan (Raufoss), maybe a Japanese collector can verify?

 

[reccetrooper]

Hi Andy. I’ve just seen your post.

KFC is Kawaguchiya Firearms Company, Tokyo, Japan.

The symbol of three lines visible on the case is the number three. 三 (san, mitsu)

The faintly stamped marking to the right of this is a sunburst trade mark. I will try to find an image in my records.

 

[reccetrooper]

Here is the KFC sunburst trademark.

 

[reccetrooper]

Some info about the 90mm Kongsberg harpoon gun with photos in this document.
https://nammco.no/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/manual-baleen-whales-grenade-and-harpoon.pdf
Kongsberg made a licensed copy of the 90mm Bofors.

Raufoss 90mm cartridge shown here;
https://collections.whalingmuseum.org/RediscoveryProficioPublicSearch/ShowItem.aspx?4561+

https://collections.whalingmuseum.org/RediscoveryProficioPublicSearch/ShowImageView.aspx?4561+objects


A Japan Times article from June 1966 mentions a 90mm harpoon on the Japanese whale-catcher No.17 Kyo Maru.

 

[ozziammo]

Excellent info reccetrooper, thanks, regards Ozzi.

 

[Andy Naude]

Thank you George,

What a wealth of information.

Andy

 

[reccetrooper]

I noticed the whale museum links I shared may not work reliably (runtime errors) so here are the photos of the 90mm Raufoss cartridge.

 

[ozziammo]

Yes, the links did not work for me! Thanks for the pics.