Rather Urgent Question

Hi, hello first to everyone on the forum, new member with a rather important question.

My brother found a artillery shell of some sort in the forest whilst shooting, he thought considering I was ex military I would appreciate this gift left on my doorstep, he looked at it and saw the cylinders cap had been taken off and emptied , however from the time fuse there is about 4cm of cylinder accounted for, is this dangerous ?

I am trying to find out what this shell is, i can't send attachment on my phone on this site however i there is someone out there that's good at identifying shells I would really appreciate it if you could give me a peice of mind.

If you could pm me a email address I can send the photos to you,

Many thanks

Jason

 

Thanks for the advice buddy, could you possibly lead me in the right direction, im looking at approx 40cm caps been unscrewed at bottom and top has a time fuse on it . Does anyone fancy sending me there email address so I could send a couple of pics over .

 

I would suggest you take this up with your local authorities (i.e. police) and let them deal with it. Explosives are not something to be messed with. Seeking help with this problem through an online forum does not seem wise to me.

 

I almost forgot! Welcome to the forum from a fellow recruit!

 

What he said.
If you don't know what it is, and have any concerns it may be explosive - tell the authorities.
Many here can ID shells, but it would be daft to reassure that it is safe from a picture on the Interweb, particularly if 'found in a field' as you indicate on the other thread:
http://www.ww2f.com/weapons-technology-wwii/51935-could-someone-possibly-identify-me.html#post574475

Seriously mate, nobody gets into trouble for reporting such stuff, and people are hurt & killed by old ordnance on a regular basis.
Hopefully it's safe... but you don't know.

~A

 

I would assume it to be a live round until proven otherwise by someone skilled at demilling (an art not found around much) as a lot of information can be provided and most of the time it is wrong. I would not bang it around, I would not put it where it could be in a fire, and just because some part of the outside of the shell is missing is not a sign that it has been made safe. Even if someone has removed a majority of the explosive substance there is enough in the small layer stuck to the internals of the shell to kill you. There are for example, machined cuts into the metal that are to anchor the explosive material and it takes a specialist to be able to remove that from the groove. We manufacture a lot of shells but of the large ones there are few people that know how to take them apart. Our military does not train for that except in a minimal way. For example they may not take things apart....rather they blow it to pieces to try and render it safe. I would turn it into the authorities to deal with.......something to think about......if a shell was a dud does not mean it will not explode.....it means it has not been triggered yet. Trained men would rather leave the dud alone then carry it around wondering why it did not blow up........so much of what is found is stuff no one really knew what to do with in a safe way. Many people are killed and maimed by unexploded ordinance every year. It is not worth it to take the risk or to risk others near you.

 

Hey guys, just wanna thank you all the advice, I took it to a trust friend ex Princess of wells royal regiment. He checked it over and assured me that the fuse had been deavtivated. Very good to know.. like you all say.. better safe then sorry.. however as my old man took it to him and silly enough he did not think to ask him what it was.. appears he is now in Spain at his second home so if someone knows what it is I would really appreciate some feedback.I'm off metal detecting again this weekend over the Sussex downs in the Brighton area so will let you know if I find anything...I understand the risk in finding these WW2 artifacts, however Iam truly passionate about our coitnry and trying to make people understand and respect what our grandfathers and mothers did for us, I found just putting a cleaned up shell in peoples faces and telling them that it had someone's name on it mars it more real.. its easy to brush off the past.. I know I take risk finding items , but I'm hoping to donate a large amount to our local museum and think I'm thating a lot less of a risk then them.I want to say I do appreciate all the advice and hope to spend more time on here getting to meet people with similar views and interest.. just to let you know I'm bad at wording, and spelling for that matter. So bare with me if I ever confuse you or sound rude lol Let me know if anyone had a clueJase