Hi! I'm from Argentina, and a family member just gave me this piece of ammunition:
My research tells me it's from a Krupp 75mm, Modelo Argentino 1909. And it looks like it's been shot (judging by the marks on the copper band). It weights more than 2kg (can't say how much more because the only scales I have here don't go higher than that).
How afraid should I be about it still being able to detonate?
Some extra details:
This top piece (is it part of the fuse?) is very loose, but doesn't come entirely off
"R.A." mark barely visible here (República Argentina)
-- Edited by fisadev on Saturday 13th of January 2018 03:00:57 AM
The projectile has been fired but it seems to have been a blind (didn't explode).
If the projectile was HE it would weigh about 6kg with 140g of picric acid as the explosive. The fuze weighs
about 130gm and has a gain which can be unstable . If the shell body still contains high explosive call authorities to get it dealt with - picric acid becomes
unstable over time and can spontaneously detonate.
If the projectile was shrapnel the fuse would be larger with a timing disk - about 300gm but it would still have a gain and about 75gm of black powder to
break open the shell body and release the shrapnel balls.
I would say its a Shrapnel shell by the remains of the fuze, the timing ring is gone plus the top end is cupped below the fuze similar to other shrapnel shells. Shrapnel shells dont have gains unlike a HE round but a flash tube and black powder at the bottom of the pusher plate. Looks like its been dismantled before going by the hammer marks around the top.
-- Edited by BC312 on Monday 15th of January 2018 11:50:03 AM
