Stamps on German 10.5cm

[starshell]

Hello all,

Reaching out to see if anyone here can possibly shed some light on the 'RO' stamp on the base of this German 10.5cm?
Is it a manufacturer's initial or an inspection mark? Also, the '4 M'....?

Any help much appreciated as always.
Cheers!

 

[Alpini]

Hello,

that's not easy to answer.

The "M" is the factory delivering the grey cast iron blanks. But there are two possibilities for the "M", it could be either:

Friedrich Krupp, Grusonwerk, Magdeburg-Buckau (Saxony-Anhalt)

or

G. Mügge & Co, Leipzig (Saxony)

The first was of course a very large factory and the second a small one.

"RO" is the factory which did the machining work. I found it in the files written with a small "o" as "Ro" = J. Rohrbach, Katzhütte (Thuringia).

I don't want to guess which combination is the correct one and there may be even more suitable firms which I don't know.

 

[starshell]

Many thanks Alpini,

I suppose there will always be a few questions surrounding the various stamps we come across on certain shells. However, this sheds a possible light on this particular shell so thank you.
Regards!

 

[tomsk]

What year would this shell have been used I have a german case 105x503mm from 1916 what would the correct case be for your projectile