Unusual casings for ID

[feltonno13]

i was out with a friend today in a small village heathland that has recently been cleared by the forestry commision and we found a number of 303 casings and various mortars a 25pounder bomb complete with fuse but what we are having trouble identifying is a small number of casings marked MK11A4 1944 AOP-2-2 90 i would appriciate very much anyones veiws or oppinions

[Dave8472]

Hello, can we have a picture and some dimensions as this will make it easier to ID and a better read ?

Cheers Dave

Dave

[RRPG]

We need a picture to id it for you.

Also, I do hope the mortars and 25lber you found were not live, and if they were, you called EOD out to dispose of them properly. Even an apparently 'spent' mortar can be dangerous, especially the WP rounds. All too often people take these home and give them a clean. The act of cleaning exposes any remains of phosphorous to the air and you get a nice hot flame, plenty of smoke and a visit from the fire brigade, closely followed by the police.

Oh, and a live 25lber HE shell is enough to remove your house from the street you're living on and place it half a mile further away.



RRPG

[feltonno13]

im having trouble uploading the picture it says the image is too many pixels??? and yes all the mortars are spent and the 25 pounder is completely empty inside we found an unexploded smoke mortar round but we burried it back where we found it.

[feltonno13]

i have managed to get a picture by using my webcam and reducing the resolution hope you can see it okay. it is 4 cm in lengh

[Neil&Julie]

Very unusual cases, are you sure they are cases, is there a primer on the base?

[feltonno13]

yes they have a primer and have been fired they look like no other bullet cases we have found and i cant get an id using the headstamps on the internet atall, all i can find is a reference to part of the headstamp AOP seems to come up with NATO ammunition but none the same as these

[RRPG]

That's because it isn't a cartridge case I believe it is a primer from a much larger shell. The markings also indicate this. Does it say 'No. 18' or anything similar on the base ? If you found 25lber shells there then it is likely to be a primer for a 25lb case.

I'll root through my books and see if I can find an exact match for you.



RRPG

[feltonno13]

we did thinkk that was an option but we have yet to find any casings that would fit a primer like that in ????

[feltonno13]

there are also a couple of other items we have found and would love to hear your thoughts on guys, would like to thank you all for your help so far you are helping a young man discover more about the history of the people that fought for him all those years ago many thanks

Tim

[RRPG]

Here ya go Found a nice diagram for you that confirms my thoughts.

This picture comes from the files of forum member Ringpullstilskin's father. His memory lives on......

Seems to be an American primer. I'll have a look see what calibre casings they were used in but it is likely to be relatively small calibre (37-40mm ish) due to the short length of the primer tube.

DSC02594.JPG

A nice find

If you want a higher res copy of the picture just drop me a PM with your e-mail address on

[feltonno13]

thank you very much my email is feltonno12"AT"live.co.uk if you could email it that would be great, you have been a huge help thanks again

[RRPG]

Just seen your other post.

The funny looking object with the hole in it I thought was the back plate off a Sten gun but now I'm not so sure, (the bit on the end of the stock that joins the stock to the body of a Sten. Google pictures of Stens and you'll see what I mean).

If you find out what the other bit is I'd be interested as I have one EXACTLY the same. Mine was taken from an army dump and I think it's off an ammo crate, just can't track down which one !



RRPG


PS Email sent

[Neil&Julie]

It's not off a Sten, I had a De-act one for years, the one on a Sten is square with a hole in. The square plate with the 4 tangs is the lid off a box I think, just can't think what box!

[RRPG]

Yeah....I've big digging thousands of Sten parts , (and I do mean thousands !), from an old army dump with my group. Just reminded me of one really. I did have a hunt through the Sten manuals I have but the shape was the same in all marks......square on round as you've rightly pointed out.

As for the lid, 25lber shell box ? The metal one ? I got mine from the army dump which is full of all ammo boxes and crates so it's almost certainly off one of the ammo crates........but which one !