Shells , but no year stamp!

[trooper30]

Hello all, first post here as a friend of mine pointed me in this direction as a good place for advice. Going through my dads stuff deciding whats to ebay and whas not I found these two shells which have been made into vases. Looke like there nickle plated or the like, not sure! Have included some pics and as there not date stamped I though maybe someone here could shed some light on them. Would love to know what period there from and any other detail for that mater, and help appreciated.
Cheers Fellas.

 

[ben2000]

late 19th century

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum the cases are both British and date from late 19th century. The top one was made by the Birmingham small arms company I think, was made in December 1897 and was fired, annealed (A in a circle) and reused 3 times.(they are stamped CF (full charge of cordite) and each time they are reused another F is stamped next to it)
The second one I can't see who manufactured it, but it was fired, annealed and reused twice. It was made 12th June 1899.
Also the second one prob had a primer like the first one but had a new screw in one added in WW1 as its dated 1915.
Without size I can't hazard a guess as to what they were for, can you post some approx dimensions of the base?

Ben

 

[trooper30]

Wow thanks for the in depth reply, appreciated! Here are some dimension pics.

 

[ben2000]

6pdr

Hi,

They're are, or were Naval 6 pounder (pdr) cases. They would have been 12 inches tall originally

Ben.

 

[trooper30]

Thanks again for the advice, Im assuming that they werent always this silver colour and have been plated?
Cheers again.

 

[ben2000]

Yes they would have just been brass. Ben.