Recent pick up here with a 5/38 projectile and case, the projectile is dated 1971 and the case is dated 1942. I'm not sure what to do about reinstalling the bands it is distorted and will not fit properly. Interesting the fuse cover that threads over the fuse. The USN still uses a 5 inch cannon on their Burke Class Destroyers with a single barrel self automated loading system.
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USN 5 Inch
- Thread starter orcutteod
- Start date
That's a great looking projectile. If you have the complete rotating band, it probably would be worthwhile to try to reinstall it.
That projectile is a MK 52 for the old MK 12 gun. The Arliegh Burke ships used the 5"/62 gun which was a lot different than the 5"/38.
Ray
That projectile is a MK 52 for the old MK 12 gun. The Arliegh Burke ships used the 5"/62 gun which was a lot different than the 5"/38.
Ray
That's a really great projectile! You never see them with such good lettering. Its too bad some idiot screwed it up by removing the band. There are so many people out there that destroy projectiles that are worth a lot for a dollar's worth of copper.
I'm not sure if you will be able to get the band back on and get it to close tightly around the projectile. These bands are normally made up as a ring that slides over the projectile, and then are hammered into the groove or swaged into place, and then turned on a lathe to the final dimensions. The piece you have is going to have some spring in it, so it will want to stay partially open, unless you can solder the gap together, and I would be worried that the heat needed to do the soldering would ruin your nice paint job.
It is also going to take a lot of force to bend the band. Even though copper is soft, the band is thick enough to take a lot of force to bend.
You might get it to fit easier by cutting the band into two equal pieces, then close the two halves so they are the proper radius to fit the groove just right, and then put them in place. You could epoxy the two halves in place, and then touch up the gap with some liquid metal epoxy etc. Just a thought to save a lot of frustrating effort.
I'm not sure if you will be able to get the band back on and get it to close tightly around the projectile. These bands are normally made up as a ring that slides over the projectile, and then are hammered into the groove or swaged into place, and then turned on a lathe to the final dimensions. The piece you have is going to have some spring in it, so it will want to stay partially open, unless you can solder the gap together, and I would be worried that the heat needed to do the soldering would ruin your nice paint job.
It is also going to take a lot of force to bend the band. Even though copper is soft, the band is thick enough to take a lot of force to bend.
You might get it to fit easier by cutting the band into two equal pieces, then close the two halves so they are the proper radius to fit the groove just right, and then put them in place. You could epoxy the two halves in place, and then touch up the gap with some liquid metal epoxy etc. Just a thought to save a lot of frustrating effort.
Spaceinvader
Well-Known Member
I would be very interested to see this back in one piece!
Just in case you didn't know, the 5 inch 38 cal round is a separate loading round. The case is normally plugged with a cork or plastic plug, and is loaded behind a projectile that is already rammed. The only fixed 5 inch round, is the 5 inch 25 cal which was used on submarines. There are a few projectiles that were used on both the 5 inch 25 and 5 inch 38.
What HAZORD said. Also, not to detract from your project but the case is an early WWII while the projectile is post KW. Nothing wrong with displaying them together, however. The early WWII projectiles would have been painted green with white lettering, while the post KW cases would have been steel.
The projectile with the original paint and markings is still a GREAT find.
Ray
The projectile with the original paint and markings is still a GREAT find.
Ray