Help ID'ing Artillery Shell

Hi All,

I just picked up a 4" artillery shell from a guy over on CMP. Neither of us know what it is though. The base flange is 5" OD, base of the shell is 4 5/8" OD, mouth is 4" ID, OA case length is 25 11/16", it has two cannalures below the mouth, and weighs right at 10 lbs. The base lettering consists of: "1939", PB, C/32, and the logo which I drew up because it's so small. See pix below.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../1TXgk5u-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../xsm3VdH-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../QrIkL1U-1.jpg

TIA!

Russ

Isn't much help, but 4" is 101mm/10cm. Everybody and his brother had a gun that size. Field guns as opposed to anti-tank or tank main gun. Tank/SP guns that big came late in the war. Mind you, 4" naval guns were the standard RN anti-aircraft gun from the late 40's. Haida's main guns are 4" multi-purpose guns.
HMCS Haida National Historic Site

The top symbol of your "drawing" sure kooks like a stylized flaming bomb ordnance stamp.

It looks European & 4" = 99.2 mm. Does that ring any bells? Who had 99mm artillery?

The forum needs a better close up pic of the symbol above the C/32 I am in agreance with Boonie Stomper that it appears to be a flaming bomb though I must say I dont think any of them would be so pedantic as to worry about .8 of a millimeter and just go by 100mm or 10cm artillery nomenclature for ease of identification.

A WAG could be that C= Cordite loaded and 32 a lot No.

"...4" = 99.2 mm..." Nope. 101mm. Multiply by .0254.
"...appears to be a flaming bomb..." Isn't the American one.

This is the best I could get. Looks like a capital "P" followed by a smaller capitol "B", perhaps in a different font?

Russ

https://imgur.com/a/rjZjuRk

Artillery Shell - Album on Imgur

If you look closely at 9 o'clock about halfway in towards the primer hole you can just make out the No.5.

Here is the manufacturer code ~ 05 (5) - Spreewerke, Lübben, East Germany,

Or it could be this one discounting the C which I still reckon stands for cordite leaving 32.

32 - Linköpings Tändsticksfabrik, Lidköping, Sweden.

I completely missed that one! Directly across the primer hole from the "bomb" halfway between the hole and rim edge, is the number "35".

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../cgXKSUl-1.jpg

Russ

I get no hits for 35 surmising it may be an inspectors stamp the only other thing is the C/ may stand for these apart from that the symbols would be the defining mark to identifying the case! Good luck
C - Creedmore Cartridge Co., Barberton OH
C - Munitionsfabrik Cassel, Cassel, Germany
C - Pirotecnico Dell'Esercito Capua, Capua, Italy

Could the C/32 refer to the 105mm German SK C/32 gun? Looks like a similar case.

The I.D of the case mouth Brit is 4" so could not be a 105mm but good suggestion, some one will have the answer I am sure.

Hi All,

I felt the need to post back with a definitive answer. I've prolly spent over 10 hrs Googling various artillery stuff, finally found "Robert's Armory" with actual contact info, and they were very quick to reply.

This is my e-mail to Robert's Armory with their reply:

Code:

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    Hello,

    I found your site while Googling around looking for a possible ID on
 an artillery shell casing I bought last year.  It's been that long and I
 still haven't figured out what this is!

    The throat is 4", the base is rimmed and 5" OD, OA case length is 25
 3/4".  There is a slight swedge below the 2 cannalure grooves.  All
 stampings appear to be in English language characters.  Hi-res pics
 below are from my Imgur gallery and zoom nicely.

    Case: https://i.imgur.com/1TXgk5u.jpg

    Here is the best pic of the base: https://i.imgur.com/xsm3VdH.jpg

    Strange mark drawn out by hand: https://i.imgur.com/QrIkL1U.jpg

    Any help much appreciated!  I'd like to build a projectile for this
 but don't know where to start w/o an ID.

        Thanks!

                Russell Selkirk

---

Quote:

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Russell:
It's a German naval 10,5 cm S.K. C/32 case (105x657R). Made by
Polte, two times reloaded.
C. Roberts

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Guess the throat size is not necessarily the projectile size, there's around 5mm difference on this one. Now I can poke around and try to "build a bullet" for it...

Russ

Drawing in the OP of the stamp now also makes sense, Kriegsmarine acceptance WaA stamp and inspector number.

New Post started 5-19-18

Brit Plumber's Reply Date 5-23-18

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brit plumber

Could the C/32 refer to the 105mm German SK C/32 gun? Looks like a similar case.

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Mid July 2019
Robert's Armory Emailed Reply:
Russell:
It's a German naval 10,5 cm S.K. C/32 case (105x657R). Made by
Polte, two times reloaded.
C. Roberts

Hats off to Brit Plumber :thup:
Congrats Russ,
Over a year of investigation.... Can't sleep, always trying to figure an angle, can't eat, bug eyed from looking at a pc screen, hair getting grayer.... etc.
Why do we do this to ourselves ?
Oh yea, it's just a Hobby :dunno:

Yup, Brit Plumber called it! Oddly, there are at least two case lengths for the C/32, this one (657mm) and a shorter version (459mm). Now to find a scale drawing of the projectile so I can "fake" one that's close...

Russ

Pile of round fence posts.
If my Father was still alive he'd have something carved/whittled up that would look good by the time I got home from work.
Years back he was visiting and mentioned going out in the canoe while we were at work.
He didn't notice the paddles in the cluttered boat shed.
When I got home he was out there paddling away. Down on the dock I helped tie him off.
He handed me a old true 1" x 8" piece of old barn oak he'd carved in to a paddle.
Had to laugh, but it's hanging on the wall all varnished up. Heavy as heck.

Hi All,

I found a guy on E-Bay that 3D-printed me a shell with fuze, vaguely going by dims off the 'net. He's waiting on me to state what color to paint it and what text to stencil onto it. I have spent at least 20 hours Googling and have not found a single reference to a casing in my "658mm" length (not that it really matters), most are 459mm or shorter including the U-boat deck guns. It must be either a flak round or off a capital ship. Possibly because of this, there is virtually no info out there on the SK C/32 round other than the standard FK (field kanon).

The standard naval HE round is yellow (gawd, I hate yellow) so I'm looking at painting it black (AP?) with copper driving bands. It seems the fuze for all rounds is natural aluminum.

I am about to attempt threading on my pre-war Atlas to make a suedo-primer and complete this project...

What I'm really hoping is someone here has pertinent info on naval 10.5cm shell colors/stencils.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../MBp8G3z-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../ivXqEab-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../ED9Vq2H-1.jpg

Hope you can help!

Russ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RASelkirk

naval 10.5cm shell colors/stencils

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Russ,
I found some information you may or may not have seen yet.
First I found this example of an Inert WW2 Kriegsmarine 105mm Illumination Round For The 105mm (105x658R) SK C/32 Naval ....... I believe it may be like yours but am really just guessing.
The Site does give a description of different Marine craft uses. On page 12, 3rd from the top, Click on See All Images:

Artillery Ammunition 37 mm +

Here... Wikipedia with some history about it. Besides the Germans it looks as though Romania and possibly Spain used this gun. Norway used it Post WWII for Coastal defense until 2002. I believe I read some where that Nammo loaded Anti ship rounds for Norway until they stopped using it. (Wonder if in Norway if there might be a nice round setting displayed from pre WWII ?)

10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun - Wikipedia

Here more on specs and loads... etc:

Germany 10.5 cm/45 (4.1") SK C/32 - NavWeaps

Here Codes, Specs, locations and the size-colors of Stencilled lettering, depending on loads.. etc..
When opened - Clicking on the first picture with give you a enlarged booklet you can flip thru:

WW2 Equipment Data: German Projectiles - Introduction and Colour and Markings System

I hope you can find a little help from the above. Even if it's just a little Tid Bit.
I wonder if there might be a German Museum or the like that hay have an example you could see to get a better idea of how they were marked.... Color and size.

Good Luck,

From another forum.

Sorry :move eek: ........ Yellow !!

105mm sk c32

Thanks Charlie, I'd seen them all except the first one (illum shell). We're gonna go with yellow, it's the only color that seems to be "out there" in the explorable universe. I've seen pix of one that was pretty crusty which looked to be corroded black with copper driving bands, but not enough info to get "close enough" for a repro. Sucks to be yellow, but it is what it is...

Thanks!

Russ

Step one on my "new" primer. Got it turned and threaded from aluminum bar stock on my old pre-war II Atlas. First time I've cut threads on a lathe since 1972! I don't have a mill so I'm leaving the spanner wrench holes "as-is" instead of cutting them out to the wall.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../ZfcINVV-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../6BXqtdk-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../tfOxMu2-1.jpg

I found some brass hammertone enamel to paint it with, and it's drying overnight. I have made up the "text" that goes on it (in lieu of the actual stamping process) but will need some overhead projector film to continue with that.

Russ

Looks pretty convincing...

She be done! Turned out pretty nice, the printer charged me $80 plus shipping so I've got $170 total in the round. I've asked him if he wants me to put in a plug here for him in case there are others wanting projectiles 3D-printed. He's currently pondering the situation.

Russ

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../UQhX7q8-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../zFsBUPf-1.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RASelkirk

are others wanting projectiles 3D-printed

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I need a 37mm Jap myself...and have little info. Guess I'd almost copy a US 37mm. Jap was a bit stumpier.

Yours looks about perfect. Projectile doesn't weigh a ton like normal...

RASelkirk bought a shell for this casing from me on eBay. I design, print and paint artillery, tank, mortar, missile shells on my 3D printers. They are used to top off collected casings that people have but can't find a projectile for. My store is located here: http://www.ebay.com/str/makersteve

I can design anything you need!

Here is what I found on that casing... It is a german naval or army casing. The gun was either used on ship or U-Boats often for flak.

This book breaks down the markings for the shell pretty clearly.
https://books.google.com/books?id=6-...0sprgr&f=false

I have uploaded pictures of the shell I created for RASelkirk online Dropbox - German Naval - Simplify your life

Russ,
Looks great, Congrats.

MakerSteve,
Welcome to Milsurps.
And Congrats on a very nice job.

Thanks Steve, you did an awesome job! I was able to "snap" pix of the relevant pages on that book link, I seem to remember finding that, but was too, er, um, lazy to follow through on it...

Russ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MakerSteve

I design, print and paint artillery, tank, mortar, missile shells on my 3D printers.

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That would be great, info is on line at least. I can find pics and with some work...maybe a line drawing of a 37 Jap projectile. Would like a solid projectile... I'll get at it...