12g sized bullet?

[Rincewind]

Found this on a bedfordshire field a couple of weeks ago.The end was plugged with mud so i washed it out and some small cylindrical granules fell out.I dried it out on a storage heater then tipped some of these granules onto the ceramic hob and applied a lighter flame.There was a slow two second flash and a fair bit of smoke,some acidic comments came from the hormone machine which subsided when i cleaned the residue off to reveal no damage.

The letters on the base read S L then smaller possibly 4 then 3.The percussion cap if thats the right term is intact with no sign of being struck.

Does anyone know what this might be?And from when?

[Goodluck247]

Without exact measurements its a little bit harder to tell but i would go for a 50.cal, the S L 43 headstamp stands for St. Louis plant 1943. Because it is a rimless round it makes me think it would of been used in a machine gun most probably from a American plane. There could also be the possiblity that is was a round supplied by the Americans to the Brits but i personally would go for that i was from a American aircraft.
Hope this helps,
Will

[Rincewind]

Well it blows my hot loaded deer poaching shotgun theory out of the water

Amazing to think the powder was still viable from so long ago.Thanks Goodluck,yet another research line to follow.Life is too short

[Wansdyke44]

Definately US .50 calibre MG round. Could be from aircraft, but why would one live round fall to the ground? This would have been from a belt fed weapon. Were any US troops based near to where you're searching?

[Rincewind]

There were british american and polish troops stationed in the luton/dunstable areas my captured german soldier neighbour tells me and as the farm is on a high point i can only guess the land was used for live firing practice.I confess i havent followed this up much as ive become mildly obsessed with buttons and buckles and nothing else we have found here points to any significant military use.

[piersc]

may also come from a machine gun that need to be cleared after a jam in the feed mechanism or from a plane that may have been shot down or even exploded in mid air

[Smithfire]

Yep, American B17 bombers had .50 cal's in the side. could well of been clearing a jam.

Clive

[Wansdyke44]

I think if you had a potential a/c crash site in your field you'd know about it. Your wand would be going crazy! Feed jam is a good suggestion.