What are these?

chem

Some friends and I were in Verdun lately. We came across a French Army range and done some relic hunting. Found alot of stuff

Did find these and had us wondering what they are! I know they are modern, plastic bottom and lead top. About the same size as the 20mm heads we found on the range.

Kat1170

Looks like M203 ammo.

cruisedub123

chem wrote: »

Some friends and I were in Verdun lately. We came across a French Army range and done some relic hunting. Found alot of stuff

Did find these and had us wondering what they are! I know they are modern, plastic bottom and lead top. About the same size as the 20mm heads we found on the range.

I can think of safer things to do .

Chiparus

Part of the french rifle granade?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/AC58.svg

tac foley

Still got all your fingers, then?

Helpful handy hint - please don't do this again. Apart from it being an offence in France, especially for furriners, to carry out unlicensed range pick-ups, you really have no idea what you might pick up. Tucking some item of 'dud ammo' in the trunk of your car where they can warm up any fuzing can give you acceleration where you really don't need it.

Story - about ten years ago we were visiting the Somme cemeteries so that I could give my grandfather his birthday flowers [KIA 21-6-17]. While we were at the American cemetery at nearby Boney, visiting a Ranger friend of mine who was then the cemetery docent/adminstrator, we heard a loud explosion from a field about half a mile away, and saw a dark cloud of bits rise into the air. We all got in the mini-bus, and drove like hell to see if there was anything we could do, and found the totally-destroyed wreckage of a tractor and harrow at the edge of a field we had driven by not twenty minutes beforehand. We did not dare to go any nearer, just in case there was anything else just under the surface - they had obviously disturbed something very large. The crater was about fifteen feet across, and six feet or more deep, but with bits of machinery and lumps of people still in it. The farmer and his five-y/o son, riding in the cab with him, had been almost vapourised. There was nothing we could do except watch while the Battlefield EOD team turned up, and left them to get on with their task.

His family had been farming there since the late 1800's, and resumed after hostilities ceased in 1918 - all that time without anything happening to them.

tac

cookimonster

Good but unfortunate story there Tac.
I was stationed in Bosnia after the conflict in a large base that was well swept and cleared of ordanance. However over the period of its occupation there was frequent discoveries of ordanance poking through areas of ground such as the baseball diamond and other large grassy patches around accommodation that had not being disturbed in years. The natural movement of the soil was bringing them to the surface.
Not quite as bad though as the locals bringing fired ordenance up to the perimeter watch towers for the guard to 'take care of' and often chucking them there in a strop when they where challenged over it.:eek:

IRLConor

chem: In addition to the remaining explosives that tac foley has mentioned above there are also chemical weapons found in that neck of the woods. :eek:

EWQuinn

Belated casualties of the war.

chem

Ah we had enough cop on to not use hammers to bang any rusty metal we seen. We found mostly lead shrapnel balls. Stayed away from anything that looked like it might do us any damage.

So still stumped as to what these bad boys might be

Vegeta

They're fancy shotgun slugs I'd say. If they're nearly 20mm then that sounds about right for a 12 guage (slugs are smaller than 20 mm but only by a few mm I think)

Jerrystevens

Vegeta wrote: »

They're fancy shotgun slugs I'd say. If they're nearly 20mm then that sounds about right for a 12 guage (slugs are smaller than 20 mm but only by a few mm I think)

+1, brenneke of some type

thomasc4329

Kat1170 wrote: »

Looks like M203 ammo.

A bit small for m203 ammo I think

iverjohnston

first pictured possibly part of some kind of fletchet shotgun round?