Happened to pop onto the At The Front website to look at the sales right before Memorial Day weekend, and couldn't believe I saw this...Immediately bought it.
This is the steel shipping/storage container for two rounds of ammo for the short KwK/StuK gun used on the short barreled PzkW IV's and StuG's…
Also, very cool-ly, this was apparently sent back to Aberdeen Proving Grounds...
I was lucky enough to find the round a year or two ago, and posted it here...so when I saw this, I had to have it...now I need to buy another round so I can properly fill it....
This is the steel shipping/storage container for two rounds of ammo for the short KwK/StuK gun used on the short barreled PzkW IV's and StuG's…
Also, very cool-ly, this was apparently sent back to Aberdeen Proving Grounds...
I was lucky enough to find the round a year or two ago, and posted it here...so when I saw this, I had to have it...now I need to buy another round so I can properly fill it....
It is maker marked O&B if I am reading it right, 1940, and has a WaA...looks like maybe E/655, but I'll have to break out a magnifier to verify...
The amount of work and manufacturing the Germans put into a simple transport container for two rounds always amazes me...
The original stenciling reads "Patr. 7.5cm K.w.K. u. Stu.G. 7.5cm" I am debating whether to restore the stenciling by hand painting or not...
Also, oddly I do not find the usual label describing the details of the rounds within, but it does have a label that states its for tropical use with a normal powder temp of +25 deg C...(the heat increases the burn rate of the powder, and subsequently the chamber pressure, so they downloaded tropical ammo a bit to compensate). Given the date of manufacture, there is a good possibility it was Afrika Korps used...plus at this relatively early part of the war for the US, lots of captured material was sent back to the states for testing...
The stenciling on the side, either put there before sending back, or at Aberdeen states that it contains 2 cartridges, quick firing (I assume to denote a fixed vehicle round as opposed to a separate loading 7,5cm like for the Infantry Gun, Mountain Gun, or the like), 7.5cm Smoke, German...I am not quite sure of the meaning of the first words of the second line, but it also states the fuzing, AZ 23 NA...Then Tank Use Only
The Index number might be related to it being kept as part of the collection at Aberdeen...
All in all, I was super happy to pick it up!
