Any WWI artillery shell experts?

[JRD]

I was shown what I suspect is an inert WWI, possibly British, artillery shell that I’m stumped in identifying. A friend has had it for years and recently showed it to me. What’s unusual is it’s marked as a 70m/m which is smaller than the very common 75mm projectiles.
Searching the internet shows there is lots on artillery brass cases, many made into trench art, but much less on the projectiles themselves. (Probably because someone had to disassemble the projectiles and remove the explosive charge and fuse to become a souvenir.)
Can anyone point me to a resource that could identify this projectile?
Jason
Pictures of the shell at:
https://m.imgur.com/a/oWvn5vG

[marek313]

I'm not an expert but looks to me like a 70mm round for Type 92 battalion gun. Was used by Japan in WW2 not WW1 though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_92_battalion_gun

Round looks like the one on the right in the pic here :

https://photobucket.com/gallery/user/witkows/media/cGF0aDovNzBtbV96cHMzNmFmNDZiOC5qcGc=/?ref=

[xs11jack]

Please be very careful around the projectile. Some that have laid around for long time can detonate when moved just a little bit. Get a professional to disarm it before any messing around with it.
Ole Jack

[rancher1913]

not an expert by any means but highly doubt the japan connection, they would use Japanese symbols and not English type writing on the rounds unless it was post ww2

[flyingmonkey35]

As a former field artillery gunman.

The projectile in your photo scares the crap out of me.

That still has a fuse on it. The top part. It can unscrew off of the shell. Then you can see if its live or not.

However. You may be screwing with a real live BOMB. That will destroy anything in a 50 yard radius.

Every training projectile I have seen. Has the bottom drilled out and a hole somewhere else.

You can clearly see it is I enert.

This one I have no idea. The yellow paint means nothing.








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[Bird]

Its British. 2.75''

[Bird]

Here ya go. found this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BL_2.75-inch_mountain_gun#Ammunition

[fatelk]

Some years back there was a guy in a small town just south of us who made the news. It seems he had picked up a WWI 37mm artillery shell at Goodwill (they thought it was a paperweight), and he decided to dismantle it with an angle grinder. As I recall he lost his legs and was in ICU. I don't remember hearing whether he survived or not.

[skeettx]

http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Canons/Eng_AfficheCanonGET.php?IdCanonAffiche=547

[Gar]

JRD, I'm retired USAF EOD. PLEASE have a professional ordinance person look at your projectile. There is a VERY good chance that it is live.

[JRD]

Gents,
The level of concern shown for my safety speaks to the character of the members of this forum.
I should have been more clear in my initial post, explaining how I knew it was not live.
Someone else reading this years from now will benefit from the importance of knowing not to mess with potentially live ordnance. Presuming something to be inert just because it’s been a doorstop for years isn’t sound logic.

The shell was shown to me with the nose unscrewed showing it was completely hollow. There is also no fuse mechanism, just a steel cap. I don’t know whom emptied the shell or if it had ever been filled, but it’s most certainly been empty for quite some time.

I concur on it being British and 2.75”. It doesn’t look like the 2.75” shells I’ve seen online though. Perhaps because those are shrapnel shells and this HE. I will continue to research and see what else I can learn.

Jason

[Winger Ed.]

I knew it was not live.

Whew.

I didn't have anything to add before, but those things scare me---- and I thought I was fearless.

[Gar]

JRD, thanks for the clarification. I've seen first hand what "inert" ordinance can do to the unsuspecting.
Good luck on your research.
It looks like it could be a Mk 1 for a 10 pound BL Gun, size appears to be in the ballpark.

[john.k]

if its british and hollow,it could be a gas shell...........these were carried right up to the guns empty,where a gunner in shorts ,no shirt and a hat,dipped mustard from a drum and poured it into the shell.gas shells were the easist to make,cheapest ,and were used in possibly 75% of firings late in the war by both sides.Many didnt even have a fuze,just a plug.The idea being the liquid was either spread on impact,or the shell penetrated the soil and slowly leaked mustard,to catch those digging trenches.