what did I buy? cannon bullets?

[Aesop]

They are likely solid metal.
A simple x-ray should confirm that.

If it reveals any voids or cavities in either projo {nota bene that older projectiles lke that sometimes utilized BASE fuzes, instead of nose fuzes}, or anything resembling a fuze inserted, your next call is probably the local police department's bomb squad.
Ideally, after you take the hit for carefully transporting them first to some suitably deserted spot like an old quarry or what-have-you (as opposed to having them come in and cordon off your house, the entire neighborhood, or the local dog & cat vet's office when you get the x-rays done. Someone who does you a solid by x-raying them will be remarkably less enthused when they find out the local cop shop will be descending upon their work premises like the Ride Of the Valkyries, and will probably tell you never to come back again. Your call there.)

Once their harmlessness is established, some careful caliper and scale measurements are in order, followed by making some polite contacts with online enthusiast forums, and/or places like the Artillery Museum at Ft. Sill OK, and/or the Ordnance Museum at Ft. Lee VA.

Back in the day at Swamp Lejeune, the base EOD techs kept up to date on everything going back to 1700s cannon balls, as locals were constantly unearthing everything deposited in the local landscape back to pre-Revolutionary times, and on more than one occasion, had discovered a still live Civil War or WWI-era explosive projectile dredged up by the blade of Farmer Brown's plow. It kept them on their toes in otherwise quiet times. A very polite query letter and suitable high-res photos (along with a SASE for a reply) may get you more information back than you know what to do with.

Once their provenance is established, marking the bases indelibly with that info, and noting that they're INERT in large block engraving, will save you and your heirs and assigns any number of headaches in decades to come, rather than going through this all over again someday.

At which point, I'd buff them out, and polish, paint, or plate them any way that suits you, including chroming, bronzing, or painting them up to resemble war shots (provided the base is discreetly but plainly marked otherwise).

And some example references:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=548825
http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=in ... ll-casings

[Darrell]

My first thought, when I saw the pics, was a Parrott rifle round or something similar.

[HTRN]

The brass/bronze is called a driving band.

It's almost certainly solid. Look for any parts that screw into it. If they're aren't any, it's solid. If there are, carefully unscrew them, and look inside.

Measuring things with calipers won't help you. You need total volume. The easiest way to do that is with water and an accurate way to measure it, like a cambro container with markings on the side. put enough water in to completely cover the shell. add shell. note amount of water in bucket. Reach in and remove shell. Note amount again. Subtract the latter from the former, and it will give volume in in ounces.

[PawPaw]

Thanks for the blog-fodder. Like many GIs since the Roman Legions, I have dragged home relics from my service and one of them sits in my shop, between the bench and the tool chest.


That's a 90mm shot cartridge from the M48 Paton Tank. Totally inert, it sits beside my bench reminding me of when I was a studly man. What amazes me is how many visitors stand within inches of it, and never see it. When they do notice it their eyes get wide. "What is that thing?" It's totally inert and was used for training.

[gandalf23]

can't find any of my calipers, have spent hours tearing up the shop looking for them. Maybe I loaned them to my brother in law?

Anyway, here's some pictures of the bases.

This is the smaller shell, maybe a 3 pounder?

It definitely has a cavity there in the base, not sure how deep or if anything is in there, I figured it';s probably a bad idea to go poking around.

This is the larger one:

It's got a nut or something there. Which would indicate that there could be something inside. great.

[McClarkus]

Thanks for the blog-fodder. Like many GIs since the Roman Legions, I have dragged home relics from my service and one of them sits in my shop, between the bench and the tool chest.


That's a 90mm shot cartridge from the M48 Paton Tank. Totally inert, it sits beside my bench reminding me of when I was a studly man. What amazes me is how many visitors stand within inches of it, and never see it. When they do notice it their eyes get wide. "What is that thing?" It's totally inert and was used for training.

I saw yesterday that HQ aka sporstmans guide is selling a big inert shell similar to that for $250.
i also checked mine over again. There is no seam up top near the tip, at the base or on the bottom. It looks completely solid. HTRN - you're right - what I thought may have been brass or bronze now looks like copper. Pic shows insignia stamped in it with crossed cannons logo. It has "Lot - 211 - 1917 TRED.CO" stamped in the steel just above the band. A lone "18" is stamped on the steel up towards the top also.

[McClarkus]

#2 pic with logo.

[Aesop]

Some solid practice shot had a base cavity for tracer material to spot the fall of the shot.
Others had base fuzes, and contain exploding charges.

Yours could go either way, and I couldn't begin to guess. And I wouldn't go unscrewing anything unless your life insurance is paid up and your affairs are in order.

Proceed with caution, and if at all possible, obtain those x-rays. (And handle them carefully - i.e. gently - until you know what you're dealing with.)

The RAF Cold War logos on their nukes: "Handle Like Eggs" comes to mind.

You could be toting around the finds from the estate of some metal detecting Bubba who found some "really cool shit" at what used to be a former coastal artillery impact area from circa 1900-1950. Which will still kill you deader than canned tuna long after he's gone.

[D5CAV]

Note that the shell Mclarkus shows has the driving band intact. Intact ordnance sold to the public is inert.

Yours has rifling markings on the driving bands, which means they went through an artillery tube.

As Aesop said, they are likely pickups from bubba deer hunting on a US Army post and finding rounds that overshot the impact area. The fact that they are in one piece and have no fuse means they're 99% certain to be inert practice shot.

Your choices are:
1. You paid for them to display, so display them - you're 99% likely to be OK
2. Spend about 100x what I guess you paid for them to get them x-rayed and otherwise certified inert
3. Give them to the local popo and let it be their headache

[Aesop]

The fact that they are in one piece and have no fuse means they're 99% certain to be inert practice shot.

Where are you seeing "no fuse" or "one piece"?
One has a base cavity, and the other has an obvious base plug.
Those could both be fuze wells. Or not. No way to know without more expertise or further exploration.
Inert pieces are generally completely solid.
There's no clue what fired it, where it landed, where it was found, or twenty other things you'd want to know to make sure it isn't going to re-decorate your den with your body parts one day if it falls off the mantle.
Guilty until proven innocent is the rule for ordnance of dubious provenance; any other way gets folks in the papers.

More web bait for further research:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/ ... shell.html
http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/forum.php

At the second one, you need to register, but then you can view and post photos and ask for help w/ID.