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Civil war shells & relics

Thanks for that kz11gr. What made me cringe was that, without knowing what fuze type the round had, they bang away on the round as if it was nothing. The first round looked like it might have been a percussion fuze and smacking the base of the shell to clean it off would have, rightly, got me thrown off the grid on any UXO Remediation job and probably fired to boot. Cheers, Y'all, Bruce.
 
It would be interesting to see if any future UXO accidents occur from stupid people that watched this video, and decided to go dig up Civil War shells to sell.

There also wasn't any mention of the laws relating to digging on Civil War battlefields of which many are now parks where digging is strictly prohibited and prosecuted. Or the dangers of taking UXO home, and having the explosive devices most likely inside the city limits. The gift that just keeps on giving.
 
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Haz, I tried to post a reply to their web site saying the exact same thing but when I clicked on send, it wouldn't. They had a person ask them about the National Parks question and they replied it was private land. When asked where, the reply was outside Atlanta. Have a good one, Bruce.
 
Hi

Thank you for your replies


knowing the domain of old ammo i assume that the risk is very low if somebody removes such an old shell from the ground.
as long they only dig and take the round in the hands without opening it .
In this fuze , like with the wooden models 150 years of rain and humidity have done a heavy job.

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/fuzes/hotchkissparrottfuzes.htm
"The Hotchkiss fuze plug is made of brass and has a screwdriver slot across the face. The plug is threaded and was screwed into the fuze well of the projectile. A paper time fuze, composed of a powder composition tightly wrapped in paper, was then driven into the center of the plug. The length of the fuze determined the amount of time it took to finish burning. The artillerist could either choose a manufactured fuze or alter the length of a fuze so that it would burn for a shorter period of time. Then the fuze burned through to the end, the flame was transmitted through the hole in the fuze plug and into the powder chamber of the projectile. This is a representative example of this class of time fuzes."



http://www.civilwarrelics.com/museum/graphics/10lb_cut.jpg


Don't worry , be happy
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Regards

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kz11gr, Hotchkiss also made a percussion fuze for their shells, which I think that the first one was. It was sealed and had a percussion cap on a nipple/impact weight. Upon impact, the nipple/weight was driven forward to strike the internal anvil, and the flash was directed through a flash channel in the nipple/impact weight to the initiating element and hence to the main charge. Dropping it on it's nose could have some very drastic effects. The second shell had the standard brass fuze plug that you mentioned. Cheers, Y'all, Bruce.
 
There are hundreds of variations of Civil War projectiles. They were filled with a black powder bursting charge, which will explode just as well as the day it was fired, if the black powder is dry. There were a few designs of impact fuzes which would explode the projectile if the fuze received an impact, therefore without identifying the fuze first, it is very dangerous to agitate or hit projectiles.

A number of bad things happen when people recover UXO projectiles. They try to drill them out to wash out the black powder, and sometimes detonate the powder with the heat of the drill. Other dangers exist when people think the projectiles are solid steel, and they place them by their fireplace as antiques. When the cold Winter night arrives, they build a big fire and all gather around the fireplace, and the projectile overheated by the fire detonates and kills the whole family.

For those members that appreciate land mines, civil war cannon balls were buried as landmines, by retreating troops. They removed the cannon fuze and replaced it with the friction fuse used to fire the cannons and attached trip wires to the friction fuzes. In one instance, the retreating troops were captured and forced to dig their land mines back up.
 
Hello Bruce & Hazord

Thank you both , it's very interesting .
Civil war projectiles are the first modern ammo of this century .

some pictures (and stories) for you :

http://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2010/06/fisherman-reels-in-civil-war-shell.html
We were just fishing from the bank in Bluewater Creek (on Alabama Highway 64) and had gotten a few bites when I saw something in the water,


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http://hanoverbrass.com/
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VIDEO
http://www.knoxnews.com/videos/detail/stumbling-upon-unexploded-civil-war-artillery-shel/

Dave Sink held a piece of that history in his hands Tuesday night when he pulled an unexploded Civil War artillery shell out of a muddy creek bank .....

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/15/history-shell-of-former-self/

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Civil War Confederate 12 lb Howitzer Shell
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http://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2010/07/update-on-42-union-artillery-shells.html

42_Artillery_Shells_-_Lovejoy_004.jpg


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I will never cease to be amazed at the general stupidity of these people that some how figured out how to post a video on YouTube, and feel the need to ramble on talking, making up a story out of their head as they go. I watched half of the Hotchkiss shell video, and wanted to reach through the computer and bitch-slap the guy into a coma.
 
And NOW, For the latest winner of the DARWIN AWARDS, I GIVE YOU...!! What, don't people at least read anymore? The first video of the mortar firing then the comment of, "OOPS! Looks like we had a charged one," and with dirt and frag flying all over the place and a crowd in the background. At least the other mortars were fired in to an impact area. The beaten zone from the air burst 24 pdr was really evident, then the 8" and 10" Siege Mortars with an air burst then a ground burst showing what those things could do. Haz, I agree with you on the Hotchkiss. Make me cringe, again. kz11gr, Thanks again for showing these. Cheers, Y'all, Bruce.
 
Hi

Some Books about the secession war projectiles

http://sgtriker.com/images/m&m1980.jpg


Civil War Projectiles II with Supplement by W. Reid McKee and M. E. Mason. This is the 1980 edition of this classic work. It covers the various bullets, artillery, grenades and rockets used during the Civil War, including oddities. The authors painstakinly assigned numbers to the various items which are organized by type, showing pictures plus specifications of each.
Priced now at $60.00 plus shipping



http://sgtriker.com/images/field.jpg


Field Artillery Projectiles of the American Civil War.
This classic 505 page tome, written by Thomas S. Dickey and Peter C. George, is number 638 in limited edition of 2000 copies. (Now out of print) It begins with a glossary, then covers field artillery in general, field artillery projectiles in general, field artillery projectiles, navy projectiles, fuses in general, how fuses worked, and hand grenades, rockets, and land mines.
Priced at $174.99 plus shipping.


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