New member and I need help with item identification.

[RNC1924]

I live in northern Illinois and have been spending some time on the shore of Lake Michigan near Ft Sheridan with a metal detector. I found an item that looks like a mortar fuse but does not seem to match any pictures that I have found in books or the Internet. Any help identifying this item would be appreciated and also is this item safe to handle?

 

Thanks

[strawberry 9]

Can we see more pics and something to show size?

[RNC1924]

Here are some more pictures. Seems to be bi-metal.

Thanks,

Pat

[aussie digger]

How wide is it across? Kind of looks like the right shape/size to be a 40mm projectile. Be carefull...

[RNC1924]

Total height: 2 7/16"

Width of upper: 1 5/8"

Width of lower: 1 3/16"

Lower part sticks down 1/2"

 

Thanks,

Pat

[ordnance]

Be very careful with that one and seek out a method of proper disposal.

 

It is almost certainly the projectile from a 40mm grenade launcher. It's too corroded to see if it has been fired but that doesn't make much difference in that condition. The rounded, rusty portion is the steel grenade ball at the rear of the projectile and the flat part at the other end is the nose fuze. The section in between is the skirt or aluminum center section of the round. The rounded ogive normally present that normally covers the fuze is missing but you can still see the crimping groove.

 

There were some early practice rounds that used similar components and would look about the same after that much corrosion but it's MORE LIKELY to be a fired, dud high explosive round or an unfired HE round that someone threw in the lake for disposal. Either is quite dangerous. I would put it in a safe place and call your local Police Bomb Squad or Military EOD unit.

[aussie digger]

Yes as stated those dimensions make sense for a 40mm grenade and quite possible a HE "gold top" round. I would recommend you follow the above advice and have this disposed of correctly!

[RNC1924]

Thank you both very much for the valuable information. I am making arrangements with the Sheriffs department to have it safely removed. Guess I won't be adding this one to my collection.

Pat

[Linedoggie]

M406 HE grenade for the M79/M203

 

5 meter Lethal radius

130 meter casualty radius

filler is 32 Grams Comp B

 

 

Be extremely careful of it until EOD arrives

[RNC1924]

Glad to report that the HE is gone. My fire department took care of bringing in a Bomb Squad from a neighboring town and they removed it from my property. Now I can sleep again. Thanks everyone for the help in resolving this.

 

Pat

[ordnance]

Pat,

 

Good to hear it went away for safe disposal. I'm not one to get too concerned about most odd munitions items, but some of them just scream danger. I'm afraid this was one of them.

[aussie digger]

Glad it was safely disposed of! We were always told the 40mm UXO was one not to be messed with!

[WI1944GPW]

Good Job Aussie Digger, RNC1924, Linedoggie and others who spotted this one right away.

 

You never can tell when one of those old crusty ones will get you. I recall reading an article about a relic hunter who found a nice old Civil War era cannon ball or artillery round. Anyway he took it home to his shop proceed to clean it up and in the process did something and KABOOM. Lucky that he did not get killed, but the article did show the damages caused to his shop. He was lucky.

 

Also its not just the dug ups that we need to be concerned about, but also those pieces that are marked Inert or found in old uncle Pete's attic. Soldiers will always bring something neat and explosive or dangerous home; however the military itself also had/has a track record of using actual pieces for training that are marked inert that are actually 100% munitions that later find their way into civilian hands.

 

So before pulling pins, grinding, drilling, heating or manhandling those attic finds or old surplus store sale treasures, take the time to investigate what you have or get advice from others who might have a little more information just like Pat did. Way to go on this one, you and your family are now safe and very happy to hear that we did not read about this in the papers or saw another bad story on the news.

 

Best Regards and Be Safe

Jim

[Morlok]

Good Job Aussie Digger, RNC1924, Linedoggie and others who spotted this one right away.

 

You never can tell when one of those old crusty ones will get you. I recall reading an article about a relic hunter who found a nice old Civil War era cannon ball or artillery round. Anyway he took it home to his shop proceed to clean it up and in the process did something and KABOOM. Lucky that he did not get killed, but the article did show the damages caused to his shop. He was lucky.

 

Also its not just the dug ups that we need to be concerned about, but also those pieces that are marked Inert or found in old uncle Pete's attic. Soldiers will always bring something neat and explosive or dangerous home; however the military itself also had/has a track record of using actual pieces for training that are marked inert that are actually 100% munitions that later find their way into civilian hands.

 

So before pulling pins, grinding, drilling, heating or manhandling those attic finds or old surplus store sale treasures, take the time to investigate what you have or get advice from others who might have a little more information just like Pat did. Way to go on this one, you and your family are now safe and very happy to hear that we did not read about this in the papers or saw another bad story on the news.

 

Best Regards and Be Safe

Jim

Reminds me of a story a few years ago when I worked on APG. One of the buildings had used inert rounds, 105s I believe, as posts around the perimeter. They drilled through the tops & ran a chain through, creating a nice looking "fence" around the property. Some years later, the UXO team got a new scanner/X-ray machine & decided to train with it on this fence. Of the many many rounds around the property, 4 of them were live & one of them was found to be an early chemical round!! I got a few paid "vacation" days while they removed the rounds, as they evacuated the surrounding buildings!! But it goes to show, even the military itself can sometimes make the same mistakes!

[jgawne]

It happens that my mom grew in that area, and all the Ft Sheridan kids were driven out to her school. She later worked at the Ft Sheridan PX during the war.

 

One of the kids in her elementary school picked up something on the shore there, and it blew his hand off. So not only does it happen, but it happened in the same area!

 

BTW, not sure if this is well known but Ft Sheridan did have POWs there during the war. They had a little old German man in the PX that did the cleaning. No one was allowed to talk to him. Once she said Good Moring to him and got bawled out. And when she left the base they checked backseats and trunks.

 

Sad about the old base. Last I saw some of the old officer red brick housing was still up and sold off to developers.

[WW2JAKE]

way to make an entrance lol

[RNC1924]

It happens that my mom grew in that area, and all the Ft Sheridan kids were driven out to her school. She later worked at the Ft Sheridan PX during the war.

 

One of the kids in her elementary school picked up something on the shore there, and it blew his hand off. So not only does it happen, but it happened in the same area!

 

BTW, not sure if this is well known but Ft Sheridan did have POWs there during the war. They had a little old German man in the PX that did the cleaning. No one was allowed to talk to him. Once she said Good Moring to him and got bawled out. And when she left the base they checked backseats and trunks.

 

Sad about the old base. Last I saw some of the old officer red brick housing was still up and sold off to developers.

 

Interesting that your mother worked at the PX because what I was actually looking for with the metal detector was old Post Exchange Tokens. My wife has found 3 just by eye and all I found with the detector was an explosive. The tokens are in poor shape after being in the lake for 50-100 years but they are very cool to find anyway. I'll attempt to post a couple pictures. They did turn all the old officers housing into private residences and they are beautiful.

 

Pat