Artillery Range (Virgin ground when I can find the right spot)

[scottinoz]

Anyone provide any info on these. The general area was used for artillery practice in early 1915, are these this early? I do know the big ones were filled with ball bearings... Approximately 900m from the hillside barraged is a concrete 'bunker' with long horizontal slit for watching the action.

Artillery Shell

Timer of some kind?

These were filled with ball bearings, these are the 8 inchers I think.

Does anyone know where I could find maps of where training areas were for WW1? I know there was also light horse training nearby (from the image I am thinking the other side of the local town).

Scott

 

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[Jason in Enid]

That top picture is a live artillery shell and you are an idiot if you touch it! It is not filled with bearings, it is filled with high explosives. Call your sheriff to have a bomb-squad blow it.

 

[Beavertail]

Yeah definitely need eod there. They are 105 mm howitzer rounds

 

[scottinoz]

That top picture is a live artillery shell and you are an idiot if you touch it! It is not filled with bearings, it is filled with high explosives. Call your sheriff to have a bomb-squad blow it.

This particular one is empty, wifes grandfather (crazy) opened it and emptied it if I remember the conversation correctly he put it in a fire for a while first..... some people..

So the question is, would you detect and dig these hills, they have been used as both camps and artillery ranges (there are a couple of WWII vehicles that were used as target practice still there).

Detected right next to my house and found several ball bearings from one of the larger shells that obviously missed its mark (the target hill is over 1km from my house). Have found them across the road also in a hollow that seemed out of place.

 

[smokeythecat]

No I would not dig for these. Gunpowder becomes unstable with age and can go boom if disturbed. One spark and instead of a nice casket, you'd need a wet dry vacuum.

 

[Jason in Enid]

your explanation doesn't jive. "emptied it"? It would be filled with a solid explosive like comp B and it can't just be "emptied". The one in your picture has never been opened, it's clearly exactly as it was when it hit the ground.

Dig around a live artillery range? Not even on YOUR life.

I still don't think you have a grasp on reality, there are ZERO artillery shells that contain "ball bearings". Artillery shells are heavy-walled, steel or iron and contain large amounts of high explosives. To even think about digging around any UXO is an act equal to suicide. Don't do it.

 

[scottinoz]

your explanation doesn't jive. "emptied it"? It would be filled with a solid explosive like comp B and it can't just be "emptied". The one in your picture has never been opened, it's clearly exactly as it was when it hit the ground.

Dig around a live artillery range? Not even on YOUR life.

I still don't think you have a grasp on reality, there are ZERO artillery shells that contain "ball bearings". Artillery shells are heavy-walled, steel or iron and contain large amounts of high explosives. To even think about digging around any UXO is an act equal to suicide. Don't do it.

These British artillery rounds contained ball bearings, I have found details of them as below.



More details Battledetective Battle Relic

I am not wanting to dig for these, but for the other relics that are around the site, crazy thing is that this is all on farmland, the government must be pretty confident that they wont blow?!?!

 

[scottinoz]

31 second fuse
View attachment 1238960

 

[fuma1986]

Your website has been parked just so you know. Guess you forgot to pay the domain name fee......I've done that a few times in the past.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

That first shell is a live timed air burst anti personnel shell, the balls inside them are shrapnel. Do NOT mess with them unless you know what you are doing.... Even after years in the ground they can detonate if you jostle the fuse the wrong way. There are also impact fuses, these can still go off too if you hit them with your shovel. These are nothing at all like civil war shells, they stay dangerous.

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

I cant see the pictures. Are there any markings on that artillery shell? The markings should tell you what is in that round. It could be HE with Comp B in it but I dont think Comp B was used in World War 1. Either way, unexploded ordinance is not something I want to play with. If it has the ball bearings or anything like flachettes in it, youd be getting sucked up and scraped off of whatever you were near if that thing decided to go. EOD is your best bet.

 

[uglymailman]

OP last posted about 5 days after the start of this thread. Do ya think he went back diggin? Hope his people know where he digs. If he touches one of them off they'll never find him.