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Unknown WW1 fuze?
- Thread starter CultOfOne
- Start date
Bellifortis
Well-Known Member
Your item is most probably a friction igniter for cannon-(charges) and may predate WW1.
regards,
Bellifortis.
regards,
Bellifortis.
2/3rds down the page: http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/early-german-friction-t33948.html
As others wrote before: It's an artillery igniter, it works immedietely without delay. The german name is "Reibzndschraube n. A.". The abbreviation n.A. meanse "neuerer Art" which can be translated with "new model" or "improved model". The previous model (a. A) had the friction wire inserted straight. These igniters were invented by Krupp in the 1880's and also exported / license produced in many other countries than germany. I am not even sure if yours is german or from an other country. The factory stamps of these igniters are not well documented.
When I hear the (money making) story that this fuze was used for WW1 booby traps by inserting them into Kugelhandgranaten or Eihandgranaten I can only say that much force is needed to pull the friction wire (it was made for a several hundred kg heavy artillery gun). So if it should have been used with a small handgrenade the handgrenade must be in concrete to make it work. Otherwise the handgrenade will be pulled out of the earth without ignition. All known german documents explains a usage for igniting artillery bag charges. And why not use the normal fuzes for boobytraps - available in millions.
When I hear the (money making) story that this fuze was used for WW1 booby traps by inserting them into Kugelhandgranaten or Eihandgranaten I can only say that much force is needed to pull the friction wire (it was made for a several hundred kg heavy artillery gun). So if it should have been used with a small handgrenade the handgrenade must be in concrete to make it work. Otherwise the handgrenade will be pulled out of the earth without ignition. All known german documents explains a usage for igniting artillery bag charges. And why not use the normal fuzes for boobytraps - available in millions.
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Thanks for the quick responses guys, much appreciated. I only paid £2.87 for it, and it’s still an interesting little piece to go in my collection.
Alpini, thank you for the detailed description and the data sheet, I’ll keep a copy of that with the rest of my documents
cheers guys
Alpini, thank you for the detailed description and the data sheet, I’ll keep a copy of that with the rest of my documents
cheers guys
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Found similar friction tubes (marked LC-96) near a former Austro-Hungarian gun platform some 10 years ago
in Italy. I was informed at the time that these were used for the famous Skoda 24cm and 28cm howitzer
which supports the comment made by Alpini.
Regards, Jan
http://www.westernfront.nl
in Italy. I was informed at the time that these were used for the famous Skoda 24cm and 28cm howitzer
which supports the comment made by Alpini.
Regards, Jan
http://www.westernfront.nl
Hi Stefan, many thanks for this drawing. Much appreciated. It could be that the ones I found are indeed Italian as
you suggested.
Regards, Jan
http://www.westernfront.nl
you suggested.
Regards, Jan
http://www.westernfront.nl
Btw. the text posted above is telling one interesting fact about these threaded primers: Normal primer tubes were used for guns with a primer hole on top of the barrel/chamber (like old black powder cannons). The threaded primers were used for guns with a central primer hole pointing backwards of the gun because these threaded primers are gas-tight. This way the gun crew was save not to be hit by flames buring out of the primer hole. The internal shape of this screw is self-tightening when pressure is flowing out.
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