Need help...Old WW1 Shell

[Antny]

I bought this shell at a moving sale, for a few bucks, about 10 years ago. The lady said it had been her father's and she thought it might have something inside. The problem is that I want to make sure it's not a live round.
Maybe someone can tell. Anyone know what type of shell is it? Finally, how do I open it? I have heard that people used to hide stuff inside of them. I can feel something moving whan I shake it hard. I never had an opportunity to ask about it untill I landed here. It measures 11" tall & has model 1907 on the nose. Also lot 271  14. The bottom has 198 on it. There are dials with numbers on the nose. Kinda like a safe. Here are some pics.
Thanks !
Antny

 

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[MSgtUSAF]

Artillery round, the rings are for setting the distance for the round to go off, the fuse is activated by rotations. I would have it checked by someone qualified to see if its live or not. reminds me of a certain teacher who had a shell on his desk for years then tried to swat a bug and lost a hand.


MSgt

 

[MSgtUSAF]

Found a photo of a broke down round, even IF it was a"training round" it could still have a small charge for marking purposes. I been around munitions enough to have great respect for what they can do when not handled properly. Good luck, defused its a nice keepsake.

 

[Michelle]

I agree DONT SHAKE IT ANYMORE.......GET IT CHECKED OUT! GOOD JOB ID'ING

 

[dg39]

I would say check with your local police department but they would just destroy it. Is there a military post near you. They would be best to deal with it and not ruin it. Either way treat it with respect.. I live in an area that was the center of training for WW-2.. About once a year some poor soul looses a hand or leg from one they dig up in an old training area...And we tell them oover and over leave it where you find it and contact the local National Guard outfit....They don't listen...Want the copper and brass to sell...
DG

 

[RKinOI]

I have a place to hunt and can find those exact shells all day long. They were filled with grape shot that kinda look like small musket balls. I have only found one unexploded and we turned it into the park service. Always find the tops with the dials and the bottom parts separate and those balls are everywhere. In WWI the army was stationed at an airfield in Gastonia NC and shelled Kings pennicle for target practice.

 

[Antny]

Quick ID!
Thanks guys (and Michelle). You have given me something to think about.
No more shaking it! Guess I have been lucky so far....don't want to push it. If I find someone qualified to check it out, I'll post it.
Best,
Ant

 

[outdoorsup]

75mm Anti-Personel round. The Fuze apperas to be an M1907 PTTF (Powder Train Time Fuze) which was designed the function at a pre-determined time. The rings were rotated to the time desired and on firing the flame would shoot down a flash hole on the fuze igniting the powder inside. The powder would burn until it hit the main charge which would then function the fuze. This type of fuze is normally used on an ejection type of round such as illumination or a anti-personel canister shot which is what this one looks like. A canister shot is filled with a couple hundred lead or steel balls that fall from the sky with enough force to kill troops and some equipment. We still use a simular round today but we use Flechettes.

I can give further details if you like but will need some more information such as measurements, markings etc. If you turn it into the military it will go away, This I know for a fact. Hope I helped a bit.

 

[outdoorsup]

Here is a link to another one.

http://www.militariacollecting.com/index.php?showtopic=14673&st=0&p=117586&#entry117586

 

[snorton750]

Be very careful that is proably live ordinance. look at

http://cartridgecollectors.org/introartyammo/introtorty.htm

as I said please be carefull. it is a 3.8" sharpnel shell from wwI
what you are proably hearing is the power charge or the sharpnel

would make a great conversation stopper. take it to the police or military.
your home insurance proably will not cover this if it goes off.

stan...

 

[Antny]

Guys,
Thanks for the update. I hear you. I checked the web site Snorton.
Just curious though...Is there any visual way to see if it was fired?
Outdoorsup, on the web page you posted, it shows a fired shell with the rifling marks on the gas check ring. Mine has that too. Is it possible that it is a fired shell? Would an unfired shell not have the marks?
Thanks,
ant

 

[blurr]

Guys,
Thanks for the update. I hear you. I checked the web site Snorton.
Just curious though...Is there any visual way to see if it was fired?
Outdoorsup, on the web page you posted, it shows a fired shell with the rifling marks on the gas check ring. Mine has that too. Is it possible that it is a fired shell? Would an unfired shell not have the marks?
Thanks,
ant

I would say that the usual way to see if it was fired would be quite obvious. It would be in a Lott worse shape than what you have. If it has been fired, it landed in an extremely soft medium. could be, but I would be awful careful with that thing. It's nice being alive isn't it? If I were you, I would get in contact with someone at a gunshop or gunshow and I bet they could help you find someone to demill it or make sure that it isn't a live round. All in all a very cool souvenir!


John

 

[Michelle]

Yes....I just read on one of the civil war relic sights I go to that a guy was injured and in a coma while trying to defuse one of these things so even if you do know what your doing you can still get hurt....Put that thing somewhere safe until you are sure or take it to an expert.....Be Safe...Looking too much might upset it!

 

[Gribnitz]

If you take it to the police or a military installation to have them look at it, it WILL be destroyed. They won't bother telling you where you can have it disarmed, if they even know. They would consider it explosive ordinance and blow it up in a shallow pit. If you want to keep it, you are going to have to find a person nearby that can safely make the shell inert. I'd love to find an old cannon ball or something, but I honestly don't know what I'd do with it if I did find one.

 

[lordmarcovan]

As others have said, BE VERY CAREFUL.

People have been killed by artillery shells, sometimes a century or more after they were intended to be used!

I heard a story somewhere (possibly an apocryphal tale, but you never know) about some old lady in the late 1800s or early 1900s who had three Parrott shells or similar rifled artillery shells left over from the Civil War. She used them as a stand for her washtub (obviously, this happened before washing machines, if it happened at all).

She made a sort of a tripod with the three shells (maybe she lived near some old Civil War battlefield and had picked them up, one day). She put the washtub (a big cast iron kettle) on top. Put water in it. Put soap and dirty laundry in it. Lit a fire underneath. Stirred the laundry a while. Went inside the house to get something.

KABLAAAAM! BANG!!! POWWW!!

When the smoke cleared, there were shreds of dirty, wet clothes, scattered all over the neighborhood, hanging from trees, and on the roof. And shrapnel damage on the back wall of the house, and the trunks of the trees in the yard, both from the shells and the hot, flying fragments of her cast iron kettle.

Whether it's a true story or not (without my literary embellishments), similar things have happened, often with fatal and tragic consequences. Just ask the folks in Germany and France and places like that, where they are still finding unexploded ordinance from two world wars.

I also read about some fool who was using a hammer to knock bits of rust off a similar Civil War shell he'd dug up. He was lucky to survive long enough for some pal to tell him what an idiot he was. The buddy who insulted him probably saved his life.

Word to the wise.

 

[BIG61AL]

No amount of collectability is worth someone getting hurt or killed...get rid of it and let the authorities destroy properly.

 

[MSgtUSAF]

Unfortunately even a "SAFE" round is not safe, this shell was supposed to have been demilled but they forgot about fuse charge in the nose cone and some poor kids died because of it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211531,00.html

MSgt

 

[stefen]

Everyone has provided some good, sound advise, thats worth serious consideration.

Might want to take it to a local fire or police station for proper disposal.

Your call.

 

[packerbacker]

I wouldn't even transport that thing. Get someone to take it off your hands. You have pics, that's all you need.