Help ID this mortar shell

[dano1917]

Hi all, Went over to Alamo Militaria today and traded off a pistol I had and got a bagful of goodies. This appears to be a mortar shell with no markings. Can someone help to identify? Dano

 

[Dave83]

Hi dano

Hi dano i gues it looks like a practice round or a dummy round but i am not sure !!
is there on the top side a hole with tread for a fuse ??


Regards David

 

[dano1917]

dummy round

Yes Dave, it is a dummy round, but sure of era or country of origin (I assume US) Dano

 

[Dave83]

realy hard to say !

Hi dano

Realy hard to say without markings for this kind of stuff i am not an expert !!

Regards David

 

[spotter]

Its a US AN-MK 43 practice bomb

some more info here on ordata plus some info on the spotting cartridge http://maic.jmu.edu/ordata/srdetaildesc.asp?ordid=3787

 

[Dave83]

see dano here are the experts !!

Realy good spotter i see its better to wait for the experts as to work at self !!

Regrads David

 

[spotter]

not an expert david,,just recall seeing them before

 

[dano1917]

thanks

Thanks Spotter, help greatly appreciated, Dano

 

[dano1917]

paint

It has a nasty ass coating of really thick silver paint complete with runs. I think i'll take some stripper to it and see if any markings appear. Must first make a trip to wal-mart as stripper is empty. Will keep posted. Whoever had it before transformed it into a lamp which I promptly put an end to that when I brought it home. It is a cool looking little mortar shell. Dano

 

[Eodtek]

Its a US AN-MK 43 practice bomb

some more info here on ordata plus some info on the spotting cartridge http://maic.jmu.edu/ordata/srdetaildesc.asp?ordid=3787

Spotter is correct. We used to get called on these all the time and they were always reported as a mortar.

The question we always asked was "How many holes are in the space between the tail fins?" and if the reply was "None" or we knew that it was a practice bomb.

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

U.s. Practice Bomb;

Spotter,
Odd, was the earlier model a Mk. 23? I have picked these up on several bombing ranges in the U.s. They hold a shot gun shell type spotting charge and is supposed to have the same tragectry as a 100 lb. G.P. Bomb. They have cost several people some fingers.
Bart

 

[dano1917]

stripper

Well, I just got done stripping 2 thick layers of paint off of it and it is now bare metal, no markings present. This thing is steel not alloy! Dano

 

[spotter]

Just found this for you from Tm-9-1980 refers to both the 23 and 43 types

 

[dano1917]

stripper

Here's a few more pics of mortar shell after stripping of all paint. As you can tell looks like it took a 10ga or 12 ga shotgun shell. Dano