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Help with ID please

M

merlin_industries

Well-Known Member
Any information on this item would be much appreciated. I picked this up at a local carboot. The seller said something about AP Sabot. There are no markings or stamps.
Its been fired and hit something soft judging by the striations on the body. Nose is alloy and rear part steel. My thoughts were training/practice round.
Cheers
M


MIMAG0314.jpg
 
If it is really heavy for it's size, then it is from an APDS round. If it is fairly light, it is from a TPDS round (target practice). Most likely 105mm tank gun as mentioned above.
 
Thanks for all the replies .
Its heavy for its size so looks like APDS.
Is there anything contained within the core which could be hazardous or is all the explosives contained within the outer jacket ?
Cheers
M
 
The only explosives involved with the round, were the low explosive propellant in the cartridge case that fired it. Your sub-projectile kills its target with kinetic energy from the heavy tungsten core inside. It was designed to penetrate armor, doing damage to the inside of a tank. The APFSDS-T modern dart penetrators travel in the range of 5,000 feet per second. When they enter a tank, they cause a huge overpressure, and when they exit the other side, they cause a vacuum, which tends to want to suck whatever is inside the tank out through the hole they made. If the penetrator is depeleted uranium, it sets fire to anything that burns as an added bonus. Your bullet is inert.
 
I once had a 105 mm Tk APDS shot. It had a tracer in the rear end. If yours is fired then the tracer cavity should be empty. If it is live then it will have a foil/thin metal cover.
 
Ahhh that explains the threaded part at the back of the thing. This one has definitly been fired !
I'm assuming it would be pretty much impossible to unscrew the alloy head from the steel body to expose the inner dart ?
Cheers
 
Merlin,

Check out this post, as there is a photo of the WC core:

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/76540-M728-105-mm-apds-t?highlight=M392

It isn't a dart, it is a cyliner that is tapered on the top end, and then it comes to a sharp point near the tip. I have seen them unscrew. It is a right hand thread. The magnesium nose piece on the outside will come off, but the core is press fit into the steel base with an interference fit. You would need to cut the steel base in order to get the core out.
 
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