Need info on this old artillery ammo

adrian · 21st January 2013, 09:00 AM

Hi Fernando, that fuze hole is too small to act as a loading hole, as you correctly say, so it is not a "case" or "shrapnel" shell, but could be a "common shell" - filled with powder only. 5 1/2 inch shells were fired from 5 1/2 in Howitzers, Royal Mortars (5 1/2 in calibre) & of course also 24 pr guns, so do not worry about there being only a few howitzers. At approx 1 cm the fuze hole is small & does begin to make one wonder if it is a shell. Little really useful is written about Napoleonic era British fuzes, there were a variety of sizes & diameters differed. It is concievable that some could be as small as 1 cm, but at this diameter we are perhaps moving away from wood (beech) time fuzes that were tapered to fit the fuze hole firmly & towards a simple fuze of match, rather like earlier fuzes & like grenade fuzes, that simply burned their entire length & were not quite as scientific as an early 1800s wood time fuze that was cut to length or bored to a specific depth from the bottom end.
Colonel Boxer transformed time fuzes, his first pattern was adopted in 1850, then there were almost constant changes until 1854 when the design of his wood time fuzes settled down for over a decade - at the time known as "large cone" fuzes to distinguish against his earlier designs.
I am concerned that your shell appears to be partially filled with some substance. Shot Put, used for sport, often have a small hole in which molten lead is poured to get the weight exactly right - I have seen quite a few of these, though not as aged as your shell. Are you able to ascertain with more certainty what is inside your shell? Its unlikely to be a Shot Put but am curious about what is inside.....
Kind regards, Adrian.

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21st January 2013, 09:00 AM	#10
adrian Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 133	Hi Fernando, that fuze hole is too small to act as a loading hole, as you correctly say, so it is not a "case" or "shrapnel" shell, but could be a "common shell" - filled with powder only. 5 1/2 inch shells were fired from 5 1/2 in Howitzers, Royal Mortars (5 1/2 in calibre) & of course also 24 pr guns, so do not worry about there being only a few howitzers. At approx 1 cm the fuze hole is small & does begin to make one wonder if it is a shell. Little really useful is written about Napoleonic era British fuzes, there were a variety of sizes & diameters differed. It is concievable that some could be as small as 1 cm, but at this diameter we are perhaps moving away from wood (beech) time fuzes that were tapered to fit the fuze hole firmly & towards a simple fuze of match, rather like earlier fuzes & like grenade fuzes, that simply burned their entire length & were not quite as scientific as an early 1800s wood time fuze that was cut to length or bored to a specific depth from the bottom end. Colonel Boxer transformed time fuzes, his first pattern was adopted in 1850, then there were almost constant changes until 1854 when the design of his wood time fuzes settled down for over a decade - at the time known as "large cone" fuzes to distinguish against his earlier designs. I am concerned that your shell appears to be partially filled with some substance. Shot Put, used for sport, often have a small hole in which molten lead is poured to get the weight exactly right - I have seen quite a few of these, though not as aged as your shell. Are you able to ascertain with more certainty what is inside your shell? Its unlikely to be a Shot Put but am curious about what is inside..... Kind regards, Adrian.