75mm Conundrum

[merlin_industries]

I have here what looks like a 75mm shrapnel shell. It is approx 75mm diamtere and stands around 190mm tall. its corroded so probably a little smaller than when it was new.
Its thin walled so I'm assuming shrapnel and the threads at the top although corroded will take a British No.85 Fuze.
When I try to fit this in a WW1 French DEC 75mm or WW2 British 75mm case it will not fit. It appears to be too big by a wide margin.
So have I missed something here ?
Any help with ID would be much appriciated.
And YES is is empty, i.e contains no explosive parts

 

[Burney Davis]

Merlin,

It won't fit a 75mm case because it's an 18pr shrapnel shell, original diameter 84mm.

D

I have here what looks like a 75mm shrapnel shell. It is approx 75mm diamtere and stands around 190mm tall. its corroded so probably a little smaller than when it was new.
Its thin walled so I'm assuming shrapnel and the threads at the top although corroded will take a British No.85 Fuze.
When I try to fit this in a WW1 French DEC 75mm or WW2 British 75mm case it will not fit. It appears to be too big by a wide margin.
So have I missed something here ?
Any help with ID would be much appriciated.
And YES is is empty, i.e contains no explosive parts
View attachment 64278

 

[merlin_industries]

Its not an 18pdr . Here is a corroded 18pdr next to it for comparison. It is far too small.

.

 

[ozziammo]

Guys,

A couple of things need to be taken into account here.

The diameter of the projectile is the key here to proper ID.

There are two calibers of shell that are of similar style & can be easily mistaken if no scale comparison can be made. They are 13pdr FG & 18pdr FG, both use same fuse & have same drive band configuration.

What sets them apart is the diameter, 13pdr should be 3" (76mm) & the 18pdr is 83/85mm diameter. The pics of the 2 projectiles seem to be same diameter but one is longer, may well be longer one is a HE style where the other is definately shrapnel without the fuse & adapter ring.

If it is 13pdr it should nearly fit into a 75mm cart. but if 18pdr it will be no where near fitting!

18pdr carts. are very common, should be easy to get hold of one to try a test fit.

I'm guessing 13pdr, any further bets? LOL.

Hope this helps.

Regards Ozzi.

 

[merlin_industries]

Thanks Ozzi

Its a 13pdr without a doubt. The original diameter of 76mm is about right and it is miles too small for my 18pdr cases and slightly too large for my 75mm cases.

 

[Burney Davis]

Thanks Ozzi

Its a 13pdr without a doubt. The original diameter of 76mm is about right and it is miles too small for my 18pdr cases and slightly too large for my 75mm cases.

Merlin,

In your original email you said that "It appears to be too big by a wide margin". A 13pr projectile is 76.2mm in diameter and a 75mm shell case is of course 75mm, so the difference is 1.2mm which is hardly a wide margin. Allowing for the corrosion I would have thought a 13pr projectile would fit in a 75mm case hence why I said 18pr. Ozzi is of course correct, the shell is 13pr.

D