Bullet Help

[Deleted member 12200]

I think I have a WWII bullet, and a modern bullet. Also, some scrap copper painted green - alot of things are green in the military so I wouldn't know where to start to try to ID that.

 

[dkw]

The bullet looks like a 230gr FMJ from a .45ACP. The casing is probably a 5.56 blank. Can't do you any good on the other piece.

 

[Tony in SC]

What dkw said!! Tony

 

[BioProfessor]

I hunt a fair amount in the UK where they saw a great deal of WWII action. Unless I am missing something in the picture, the top item is a piece of shrapnel. It has groves to help it break into pieces and it tends to turn red in the soil. That's my best guess.

Daryl

 

[Sky Pilot]

Agreed!! For sure looks like a 5.56mm blank round, (unfired), and a .45 caliber M1911 Colt pistol bullet, the other piece, more than likely shrapnel!! Great finds!! Good luck and great hunting!!! Regards, Richard.

 

[Deleted member 12200]

Thanks All! To tell you the truth I didn't intend to be hunting a WWII site, but where I'm at its kind of unavoidable. So my question is this, should I be rooting around with this stuff?

 

[BioProfessor]

If you find more "live" ammo, you will have to ask yourself if anything you might find is worth the risk. Blank ammo, shrapnel, casing, etc. to me indicate a place where things were used and not planted, left buried, or left over from target practice with live mortars, rockets, etc. I have dug a lot of WWII casings, shrapnel, bullets, etc. and never run across any unexploded ordinance (except dropped blanks). I would suggest some research to find out what the area was used for. If it was a target area, stay away. Far, far away.

Unless I was finding some pretty good stuff, I think I would move the place a little further down my places to hunt list.

Daryl

 

[Square Nail]

I don't think it's a blank, it looks to me like a round used to launch a rifle grenade in WWII. As I recall, I had found one of these cartridges when I was a kid, (1940's) and took it to a neighbor who was a soldier. He told me that there is a small projectile inside the crimped neck, and that was what started the timed fuse on the grenade. Check the head stamp and see what the numbers are, and also look to see if the primer has been dented. If dented it's a dud, if not it's live but odds are it won't fire. If you are on Guam, it you might very well be in a battle area, and the 45 fmj bullet could be from a Thompson "tommy" sub-machine gun or a Colt model 1911 automatic pistol.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

i do believe it would be more difficult to find an area of guam NOT involved in battle.

http://www.airdaleamericanhistory.com/WWII--GuamInWWII.html


here is a site for us rifle grenades, tiny comment about a "blank round", no pictures of the round.

http://www.inert-ord.net/usa03a/usarg/rg/index.html

 

[Deleted member 12200]

The cartridge says 26 37 on it.

 

[Deleted member 12200]

or 92 37?

 

[Sky Pilot]

Hello, all!!! Not to dispute SqaureNail, but I'm quite sure that that is a 5.56mm (.223 caliber,civilian) military cartridge to be fired in training exercises. The cartridge is crimped on the end to keep the powder in, of course, and the muzzle of the M16 is blocked off with a red cap (to force the gases, when fired, from the powder round, or blank cartridge, up through the front sight to a gas tube), which in turn causes the bolt to unlock and the empty, or "spent", casing to be ejected, at which time the magazine forces another cartridge in front of the bolt, starting the cycle all over again. If you use a micrometer on the outside of the casing, just back where the bullet would be, I'm sure it will read (guessing) around .258-.260. It is really just a juiced up .22 caliber, as it sure seems, compared to the penny. I apologize for all the explanation, just thought it would help make what I was trying to say understandable! By the way, fire several mags of that round, and you'll spend the next 6 hours cleaning up all the ball round foul from your weapon!! Great hunting and good luck all!! Regards, Richard.

 

[Jagdpanther]

The casing is a blank identified by the engraved knurl above the head of the cartridge. The crimp was also different but I can't recall the specifics. The piece of copper looks like a section of rotating band from an artillery projectile.

 

[Ramitt]

Skypilot is right, 5.56mm blank. I like pics, so here is a chart that shows it note the extra band that grndfisher mentioned.
http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/moxiepix/b1_1221.jpg

 

[Sky Pilot]

!!