Recondigger and Hot Zone are correct. More specifically... it is a US .50-caliber Browning machine-gun casing, made at the Lake City Arsenal in 1944. If you look very closely you will see a letter C about 1/3rd of the way around the casing's base from the L. Normally, on Military bullet-casings the year-of-manufacture is marked as two digits. But in 1944 the Lake City Arsenal OCCASIONALLY used a single 4 instead of 44. Go to the following website and scroll about 40% down the page to see photos of the LC4 (and LC44) headstamps on .50 Browning machine-gun casings. WWII 50 Caliber Headstamps