121 fuze

[Gspragge]

#121 ? Has this been buggered with ?

Before I look into having this sleeved and threaded I had better make sure it isn't meant to be this way. Dated 1/16 , VSM 92 -

If it is meant to be this way then what for and why. Naturally a sloppy fit in a 2 Pr.

 

[ammocat]

Fuze No 121

I have no experience with this particular fuze. I compared your photos with the fuze diagrams that another member posted. I wonder if someone machined the threads off of the fuze and cut the bottom off in line with the Needle Plug. Your photo of the base shows a channel, could this be the flash channel that connects the pyrotechnic material in the time rings to the powder in the base plug? Can you remove the center plug from the base? Is this the needle plug? If you imagine the diagram cut off at the top of the base plug it would seem to match your fuze.

 

[Gspragge]

I did look different than another one

and the body is shorter, so it has been cut back to the firing pin as you suggest. This does suggest ancient buggering - :tinysmile_cry_t2:

The last one I found had been made into a lamp ---

 

[Depotman]

This ones another what I thought was a 121 (same size etc.) but I'm not so sure so am looking for help from the expert fuze collectors please.
The lower movable ring has a completely different profile than a normal 121 and it also has a screw thread on the inside of it. The top bit has a much sharper profile than a normal 121.
It looks like there is a ring missing but if it is it must be a very thin one, the top part doesn't screw down as far as it should but if it did there would only be a few mm for the missing ring.
Any ideas anyone. Other than the severely mangled numbers on the base part there is no marking on this.
Dave.

Hi Dave and all, I'm in the process of writing an illustrated book on British WWI Fuzes and can throw some light on your mangled fuze! It's a No, 121 MkI, which looks quite different to the later Mks II & III, mainly because it only has one time ring as opposed to two in the later versions. There were apparently only 3,000 made of the MkI. Photo of an unmangled one attached. Regards, Depotman