20mm Projectile
 

Hi Guys,

Picked this up the other day.

It appears to be a 20mm armour piercing projectile.

Any other info would be of great interest - maker, date of manufacture etc.

Regards

Chris

Armour piercing are usually solid, that has a pressed nose cap, personally I wouldn't have picked it up.

Rob

20mm Ordnance.
 

Good evening.

Not my area, but by chance I have to hand a copy of the US Army's "Small-Calibre Ammunition Identification Guide. Volume 2. Small Arms Cartridges. 20mm to 40mm". R.T. Huntington. May 1978. (Doesn't everyone?)

Don't you just love a good book?

It lists some 21 different 20mm calibres. Projectile weights vary, as do users, dates of manufacture and use. It would assit identification to have details of weight of remaining projectile component, original location, and any markings.

In the absence of such information, it is really a case of "take your pick".

That said, our Member' s comment above is generally sound advice: leave well alone!

Enjoy.

S.T.

Hi Guys,

The projectile came to me via an acquaintance so not sure of its actual provenance but saying that it is appears to be a solid tipped item in a sleeve of a softer medal with a copper sealing band to the rear. i.e. quite inert.

No spare copy of the Huntington book I'm afraid.

Regards

Chris

20mm Ordnance.
 

Good evening.

Guys?

What exactly are guys? I am always unclear on that one. (An over-familiar form of casual address adopted by our American cousins, and rather like their use of "kids" when they mean children.)

However, if our Member wishes to narrow the field it would be helpful if we knew the weight of the remaining portion of the projectile and the location in which it was found. I'm assuming NZ for the latter, but confirmation would assist.

It is a driving band, not a sealing band. And, every projectile is inert until it detonates. That is the nature of projectiles.

S.T.

Hi S.T.,

'Guys' is a common non-sexist greeting to multiple recipients and is commonly used in various forms of social media forums of which The British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum is such a forum.

Location of find is unknown as it was passed to me and it may not have even come from NZ. Please note that I did not pick it up from a firing range or similar so lets not go down the road that I have personally procured this item from a live firing range in deference to laws and regulations prohibiting such actions.

I would imagine that before it came to me it had previously passed though multiple hands during manufacture, before firing and has most certainly been handled by many others after discharge.

The current weight of the projectile is 108 grams.

Thank you for the correction re: driving band v's sealing band.

Do note however that not all projectiles detonate. For example, ball projectiles from rifles nor solid shot items.

Regards

Chris

Hi Guys,

Please note that if this projectile is either something nasty like high explosive or depleted uranium then it will, of course, be passed over to the authorities for safe disposal.

Regards

Chris

Guys
 

I always thought 'guys' were the ropes used to anchor a tent to the ground!

Stephen.

Hi Stephen,

They are called something else if you trip over them.

Hey, are you back from Outer Pomgolia?

Regards

Chris

Guys are the lines that attach to the pegs, the pegs are anchoring the tent to the ground......get it right, Stephen !!!!!!! ;):D:rolleyes:

Here's some WW2 20mm Aircraft cannon projectiles.

Most likely Spitfire.

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/ima...projectile.jpg

Hi Mike,

Pretty impressive.

BTW the projectile that I have will be disposed of with the relevant military authorities today.

Thanks for the most informative advice received from a qualified forum member this morning.

Regards

Chris

First off - Inert means Non-Explosive, an unexploded explosive Shell is not Inert - It is Live until proven otherwise.

From the shape of the nose cone (I would think not a fuse) this looks like a fired Practice Shell, which are not all 'Inert' as they can have a Tracer fitted.

But, and this is a BIG BUT - without close examination you cannot really tell.....

(Edited to add - NO ONE other than a Qualified Expert should try to dismantle any Ordnance)

REALLY!

I'm glad you are behind that famous desk of yours ST and not in any way
connected to an occupation that has anything to do with ordnance.

Inert = Incapable of detonation.

Live = Capable of detonation.

For those who are unfamiliar with ordnance the best advice to follow is to treat everything as live and whatever you do, don't tamper with anything unidentified however harmless it looks. If you do you might well get a nasty surprise!

Ry

Thanks Mike,

It will be with the NZ Army in an hour or so.

Mike, quick question, if it was a tracer round would the base of the projectile be hollowed out to accommodate the tracer? I remember a few years ago a batch of 1943 .303 tracer cartridges that were broken down for their cases for reloading and that the projectiles shown to me appeared to have this hollow chamber in their base.

As an aside - I'm hanging onto this one with its July 1944 markings, red crosses and green band.

And yes, this one is OK.

Regards

Chris