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My british 6 pounder vsm

F

frijoles108

Well-Known Member
Hiya again guys,
Recently picked this up! It's a vsm produced british 6 pounder made in November on the 7th in 1916! Currently trying to research all the markings. Also how would u guys clean it up? I dont want to use anything rough but there is a little surface rust, and i would prefer to not use wire wool, i typically use evaporust, a soaking rust remover that only destroys rust, but idk if that's the original finish on the projectile.
Regards,
Frijoles
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HAZORD said:
That thing has a lot of markings/stampings on it!
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according to research so far it was made by vickers, sons and maxim
Thats what VSM stands for. the V's is most likely the location it was made in so im looking for that. i recognize the format from a 18lber i have so thats why i think thats the location its from.
 
There is a good chance that this one was perhaps an Army projectile for Tanks. Maybe someone who knows more than I do can comment on that.
 
frijoles108 said:
according to research so far it was made by vickers, sons and maxim
Thats what VSM stands for. the V's is most likely the location it was made in so im looking for that. i recognize the format from a 18lber i have so thats why i think thats the location its from.
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The "V" is the Mark (5). Depotman
 
Shell markings are not my area of knowledge, but I would have thought that 11.7.16 on a British shell would mean 11th July 1916.
 
Frijoles108,

The other marks on the projectile are Inspection marks/work marks. In order to convert the piece of metal into a projectile it will obviously subject to a number of machining operations. To ensure that a safe and use able projectile is manufactured, it is inspected at various stages. If the projectile passes examination the Inspector will duly stamp it. In British production, the position of the stamp and it's significance is essentially unique to the particular projectile type. However, in most cases, a stamp on the driving band can be taken as the the final acceptance stamp.

The first image shows the list of operations in the production of an 18 Pr HE Shell.
The second image shows an unknown projectile and its workmarks and their significance.

TimG
IMG_0569.jpgView attachment Drawing4.pdf
 
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How early would these rounds be made that were used for tank use. I assume a WW1 6 pounder tank gun used early ammunition than manufactured rounds dated from when the tank was first used. Did all the 6 pounder rounds used for tank warfare have tracer or base fuses or were flat base solid shot used as well.
 
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BMG50 said:
How early would these rounds be made that were used for tank use. I assume a WW1 6 pounder tank gun used early ammunition than manufactured rounds dated from when the tank was first used. Did all the 6 pounder rounds used for tank warfare have tracer or base fuses or were flat base solid shot used as well.
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The 6 PR 6CWT Mk I & II used the base fuzed steel shell, canister and solid practice, there was never a solid AP round for this gun, whatever the books on WW1 tanks tell you! (Also no HE round)

It's possible the 6 PR 8 CWT gun used in the Mk1 tank used an HE round.

The 8 CWT ammuntion couldn't be used with the 6 CWT gun, it had its own unique propellant loading.

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Quatermass said:
The 6 PR 6CWT Mk I & II used the base fuzed steel shell, canister and solid practice, there was never a solid AP round for this gun, whatever the books on WW1 tanks tell you! (Also no HE round)

It's possible the 6 PR 8 CWT gun used in the Mk1 tank used an HE round.

The 8 CWT ammuntion couldn't be used with the 6 CWT gun, it had its own unique propellant loading.

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Thank you so much for the reply. It made a lot of sense. Is there any way to tell if it was issued to army or navy? What would you guess?

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I don't believe that there's any way to be sure.
Great Britain sent ammunition, guns and parts to complete 100 mark VIII tank to the US at the end of WW1, perhaps you projectile was one of those?

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Quatermass said:
I don't believe that there's any way to be sure.
Great Britain sent ammunition, guns and parts to complete 100 mark VIII tank to the US at the end of WW1, perhaps you projectile was one of those?

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That's a interesting theory! I wonder if America woild have even bothered to mark acceptance marks on those shells.

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That's a interesting theory! I wonder if America would have even bothered to mark acceptance marks on those shells

Likely not if all the VSM 1pr rounds are anything to go by that are in the U.S. that came over with the Maxims the Navy bought.
 
Gspragge said:
That's a interesting theory! I wonder if America would have even bothered to mark acceptance marks on those shells

Likely not if all the VSM 1pr rounds are anything to go by that are in the U.S. that came over with the Maxims the Navy bought.
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Good point gspragge

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