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U.S. 1.95" Common

bacarnal

bacarnal

Ordnance Approved/Premium
Ordnance approved
Well, just received this odd ball. It measures 1.95" at the bourellet OAL is 7.45" and weighs 3lbs 12.25oz empty. The fuze well is the same as the U.S. 6pdr FG/2.24" Tank gun. Stamping on the base is D.- S. G. & A. Co. 1900, which is the same stampings on my 6pdr FG round. Clearly U.S. Ordnance marked on the body and rotating band. Any ideas? Cheers, Bruce.

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I will have to look through some old listings, but 1.95 inches works out to 49.53mm, so maybe look for a 50mm gun?
 
I'm at work and going off the top of my head, but wasn't there a 1.95 sub-cal? Seems like I've got a book on the gun, with maybe a plate or two on the ammo. Bruce send me an email this weekend to remind me and I'll do a quick check.
 
US-Subs said:
I'm at work and going off the top of my head, but wasn't there a 1.95 sub-cal? Seems like I've got a book on the gun, with maybe a plate or two on the ammo. Bruce send me an email this weekend to remind me and I'll do a quick check.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jeff.

John, Maybe this one would be a 4pdr? At the time, the US Military was firmly on the side of inches and pounders and trying, vainly, to stay away from metric.
 
Well, it has enough shell behind the rotating band for a cartridge case. You would think there would be a case around somewhere that would be marked.
 
I'm aware of the 2.95-inch, but while that was not the round I was thinking of, by going by memory I may have confused it slightly. I've got a 2.95-inch pub (shown). The pub I was thinking of however, was not the 2.95 but the 1.457-inch subcal. I got the 1 part and blew the remainder. I've attached both the cover and the description of that round, though it clearly is the wrong size. I also photographed my 3pr's, while they have a variety of shapes and rotating bands each of mine measured between 1.83 and 1.85-inches in diameter. Sorry Bruce, best I've got.

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Around 25 years ago, I turned up a box of 7 of these projectiles at a gun show in San Jose, California. Its entirely possible that the one we are looking at here came from that batch. Over the years they were sold, traded or passed along to other collectors. To my knowledge, none of us were able to figure out what they were. Hazard is right, the length of base under the band clearly indicates a fixed round, but no one has ever found a case. Call them 1.95 inch, 5 cm, 4 or 4 1/2 pounder, none of us could even find any reference to a gun of this caliber. They are clearly of US manufacture, at least 4 of the 7 were dated 1900, (markings were faint on the others). The body and band style are identical to US manufactured 3 and 6 pounders of the era. The projectiles are clearly tactical, all were threaded for a base fuze. Our best guess is that it was for a sub caliber gun as it made no sense to design a gun of a caliber in between two ready available guns (3 and 6 pounders). As for a case and the lack of any examples, its possible it was a cut down 3 pounder (again, just a guess). The fact that none of us were able to find a reference does not mean one does not exist, I look forward to the day one of us can find an answer to this unknown projectile.
 
Thanks, frizzen. I'm hoping that I'll get an answer also. I seem to have the luck to turn up items that no one can find the info on. That's why I have the round shown in my avatar. Maybe someone will identify it one day.
Correction on diameter. At the bourellet it is 1.995", to the rear of the rotating band is 1.980".
As an aside, does anyone have a Driggs-Seabury base fuse, left hand threads that would fit this or my 2.24" round?
Thanks, all.
 
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Well, I found SOMETHING,but not much. Mention in the, "Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War, 1900", page 439, mentions the Driggs-Seabury 4 Pounder Subcaliber gun, No. 1 was used to test 14 3/4 oz. of Laflin and Rand 6pdr smokeless powder on February 28, 1900. Velocities between 2,365 to 2,403 fps (five shots fired), making it similar to the Driggs-Seabury 6 pounder R-F gun No. 1 using 20 1/2 oz. of the same powder, though more extensive tests of the 6 pdr gun were done using a wide range of powders. Thu thu, thu thu, thu that's all folks. So, Jeff, you were right, it was a sub caliber gun. Looks to have been very short lived.
 
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