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New pick up help needed

kradman

Well-Known Member
Picked up these two case look to be 1915 dated but which army ? thank you for any help
 

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UMC Co. = Union Metallic Cartridge Co. so - U.S. manufacturer.
??? who fired it.
 
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Hi Kradman,

From the headstamp they look to be part of a batch of 37mm Heavy 1-Pdr rounds that were made for the British Royal Navy, who had bought several of the guns (either for evaluation trials, or service).

Volume 2 of Robert Melichamp's work on the 37mm gun and its ammunition has a section on this.

Roger.
 
Ian,
If you found them in Finland they most likely are for MacLean Poole gun, which Russia purchased in 1916 in small quantity. I have found them every now and then here as a couple of left behind guns served here until 1950's.
 
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All of the Maclean gun rounds were made by PE&M as far as I know. These 1915 cases have never been quite adequately explained. But it is known that empty cases were shipped to the UK as this is mentioned in Manufacture of Artillery Ammunition 1917, wether the information is current for1917 I can't tell. But the indications are that quite a few went over. What they were loaded with is a mystery to me, though it might just have been standard 1pr projectiles, but none of these cases appear crimped (which is not in the British style) and most are dated 1915. These UMC cases don't seem to appear after 1915 all the rest are PE&M for 1916 & 17. This German postcard my be a clue, but as there was no inscription on the reverse when and where are unknown, But these certainly look like U.S. 1prs. on deck mounts. The Hagerstown Stamping Co. could well be a subcontractor and the cases were by this time marked PE&M -

Hope this helps but definitive British documentation has never been put forward to really clear this up -
 

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All of the Maclean gun rounds were made by PE&M as far as I know. These 1915 cases have never been quite adequately explained. But it is known that empty cases were shipped to the UK as this is mentioned in Manufacture of Artillery Ammunition 1917, wether the information is current for1917 I can't tell. But the indications are that quite a few went over. What they were loaded with is a mystery to me, though it might just have been standard 1pr projectiles, but none of these cases appear crimped (which is not in the British style) and most are dated 1915. These UMC cases don't seem to appear after 1915 all the rest are PE&M for 1916 & 17. This German postcard my be a clue, but as there was no inscription on the reverse when and where are unknown, But these certainly look like U.S. 1prs. on deck mounts. The Hagerstown Stamping Co. could well be a subcontractor and the cases were by this time marked PE&M -

Hope this helps but definitive British documentation has never been put forward to really clear this up -

From the wiki, New York & Hagerstown Metal Stamping Company was reorganized into the Maryland Pressed Steel Company in 1914. In 1916, Poole Engineering and Machine Company acquired Maryland Pressed Steel as one of its divisions.
 
Thank you all for your input these were found in the UK so the Royal Navy part makes sense ,these are made from very thin brass
 
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