Need help to ID this shell

[Michael Comer]

The attached photos are of a shell in my possession that was given to me a couple years ago by a fellow who lives near the battlefield at Belmont, MO. He told me that this was found on that battlefield and thinking it must be a Civil War item gave it to me.

I admit that my knowledge of projectiles is limited but in my research of Civil War artillery shells and grenades I have not seen anything like this. It more resembles a small bomb or mortar round perhaps of WW II vintage, but there were no bases, practice ranges etc. to my knowledge at Belmont during the world war.

Although I do not think it is of Civil war vintage, I wanted to leave no stone unturned and post it here for those that know much more about artillery shells and the like.

It is iron, about 8 inches long and hollow with a hole in the end between the fins where powder could have been put. The hole you see at the nose has a solid bottom so I don't think there was a fuse there.

Appreciate any input.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

Looks like a Japaneese mortar round to me.

[Dreamer42]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

I'm certainly no expert on this (CW artifacts) but a good friend of mine collects WW2 60mm mortar rounds, gear, etc. and it sure looks like an 80mm practice round I have seen. It could be 60mm practice round. They weren't intended to go down range, but to launch out about 20 feet so the crews could practice speed loading of the weapon.

Jay Reid
9th Tx.

[65thgainf]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

I don't know of any CW shells that had fins. The closest thing was the grenades and I think the fins were made of wood ?

I have a nice softcover version of "Guide to Civil War Artillery Projectiles", by Jack Melton. 96 pages, with photos of almost every projectile used during the CW by both sides. If you are interested in it - $10.00 + s/h.

Jerry Holmes

[rebyank]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

OK got an ID,

My dad, a nam vet says thats a mortar round. the yellow paint means HIGH EXPLOSIVE. call your local bomb squad and have that thing checked out, the older they get, the more unstable they get.

be vewy vewy carfuw

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

It does appear to be a fin-stabilized mortar round or early aerial bomb.
I don’t see the zinc-chromate yellow bands that indicate high-explosive ordinance at the fuse end.

It does however appear to be inert.

And twenty century at that, not the second quarter of the nineteenth.

But always be cautious.

[Michael Comer]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

Well, that kind of tells me what I already figured. While it does show a good deal of age, I was confident it was 20th century but it doesn't hurt to ask. There is no paint on the shell - it's all rust. It is a dug item but the plug at the tail has been removed, it is hollow and there is no powder, fuse or anything in it.

I have no idea what business it had being at the Belmont battlefield but who knows. I'm inclined to think it is some sort of practice projectile. It's very heavy although hollow, very much like a practice grenade, in order to duplicate the weight of the real thing. Anyway, it looks pretty good sitting on one of the bookshelves in my office.

Thanks for the input.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Need help to ID this shell

I have no idea what business it had being at the Belmont battlefield but who knows. I'm inclined to think it is some sort of practice projectile.

Troopers at Fort Bragg lucky enough have access to Drop-Zone Sicily can find Clovis points, Archaic and Woodland points, colonial ceramics, Revoultionary and Civil War artifacts and naval stores spoils, plus a wide range of WW2 Ordinance relics.
I don't know if it is a live fire zone today.

There are tracts of land around Petersburg that produce the same.