Day at the Air Force base yields gold

[agentx73]

I got permission to hunt on a local Air Force base near where I work. I hit up the old parade grounds, which are mostly used as a park these days. I was dissapointed I did not find much in the way of military items, but I did find a woman's old fashioned 14K wedding band, a few interesting shells, this odd metal die, a few keys, and a mountain of clad.

On a side note, any ideas what might have caused those shells to look like they exploded?

Happy hunting!

 

[cheese]

Nice die! That's a strange find.

Those cases look like 30-'06. I'm not sure, but it looks like the primers aren't marked by an impact. This would indicate that the bullets were possibly thrown into a fire and exploded there. Whatever made them explode, it wasn't done while they were in a gun. The chamber would not have let them peel like they did unless the chamber itself exploded, and even then the bullets wouldn't look like that I don't think.

 

[Moonshadow]

Love the ring and the die.....They both look like they've been there a good while! Congrats!

HH,
Moon

 

[DANGLANGLEY]

I love to find gold rings!.......Great finds there!!!

 

[Ridley]

That ring has a beautiful ribbed edge.

Very nice find indeed!



Ridley

 

[Stormtrooper154]

Great finds! Gold iiissssss Good!

 

[agentx73]

Thank you for your kind words, and the ring does have a cool ribbed edge. For her pleasure, I assume! As far as I can tell, the primers on the shells have not been hit with a firing pin. They looked like they had been in the ground for at least a few years before I found them, and they were a few inches down. Whatever happened to them, I am glad I was not around when it happened.

 

[hasbeen]

The shell casings are either .50BMG or .60 Spotter,probably .50 BMG since they were found on an airforce base.

The quarter shown for comparison measures about .950 inches in diameter. A 30-06 measures about .470 inches in diameter, about 1/2 the diameter of a quarter.The .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge measures about .800 inches in diameter at the base.

The cases may have exploded in a fire,a cartridge fired in a gun having excessive headspace may seperate in front of the web at the case head.Quite often the case will not seperate but will stretch to fit the chamber,when that happens the primer will usually protrude to some extent.

Keep hunting ,every thing that man has ever made will be lost or disposed of. Not knowing what your next find will be is what makes metal detecting so enjoyable.

hasbeen

 

[Bavaria Mike]

Congrats on the gold ring and nice die! I often find ammo casings like that but I think the plow gets them. HH, Mike

 

[dave-enc]

nice find wtg
welcome to the forum
hh
dave+bobbie

 

[Eddy1H]

Very nice finds and it always cool to dig up a gold ring
Congrats on your sucess
Eddy

 

[UnknownBounty]

Nice ones.

 

[ModernMiner]

Thank you for your kind words, and the ring does have a cool ribbed edge. For her pleasure, I assume!

LMAO!!! Now that was funny.
Congrats on the gold ring.
-MM-

 

[Dimeman]

Nice ring!!!

 

[mumszie]

My father, husband and son were all Air Force. I am a military brat and have been to bases in the UK and the US all my life. Funny, I never thought about the parade grounds at the bases.

 

[packerbacker]

If the primers haven't been fired, then that eliminates them blowing up in a rifle. They won't just blow up without the primer being hit. Also, having it happen twice....don't think so. But, that does leave the possibility of the primers still being live and dangerous. I wouldn't play with them. Nice ring though.

 

[Hardy]

I like these finds bud, Gold is Great

 

[SC_hunter]

Nice finds.....isn't this better than fishin..lol

 

[TxTim]

Nice ring!!!
My guess on the shells:
Lawnmower blade.

 

[Monty]

Fire caused cases to rupture. Contrary to what is shown in the old westerns, when a loaded cartridge is burned the bullet don't go zinging off to kill people. Usually the case will burst as there is no chamber to contain and reinforce the cartridge wall. The bullet will be still laying there close by on the ground unless it melted. If anything went flying it would be the case itself. Worse case scenario, a tiny piece of the brass shrapnel might hit you hard eough to break the skin, but wouldn't penetrate very deep. My pal's house burned and he was a reloader and gun collector. Rounds cooked off for several minutes and that's exactly what they looked like. Monty