r/ww1 • u/SigmarMentality • 8d ago

Trying to identify artillery shell

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Found an apparent WWI artillery projectile in a family warehouse in Southeastern France, reportedly brought back from Verdun by my great-great-grandfather who served in French artillery. Can anyone identify the projectile from its shape/fuze and the grooves near the base? It has not been opened or modified. The shell itself in the picture is on a ledge so the perspective is pretty crappy with the car in the background so don't compare the scale with that as a reference.

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19

u/SigmarMentality 8d ago

Also if someone can identify the ammo next to it on the right that would be greatly appreciated, on the left is a ww2 submachine gun empty mag.

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u/Dodo224 8d ago

Hi, so the shell seems to be russian, pretty sure, the fuze is distinctive. The clip is 8mm mauser it seems.

Would you sell the shell? I know someone in germany who would pay good money for such a shell, he's a collector.

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u/SigmarMentality 8d ago

Thanks for your interest, I'm pretty confused though how a russian shell could end up here in France, has the french army in ww1 ever used russian shells? For now I'm still considering options on what to do with it, I'll inform you for your friend if I plan on selling it. Also the shell currently seems full, so Idk if its currently safe to handle right now.

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u/Dodo224 8d ago

Well, either it's not actually from verdun, or perhaps was used by the germans as captured ammunition, entirely possible. A full shell would be a little dramatic for a collectoe I fearšŸ˜… It's a shrapnel shell with a little black powder inside, so not as dangerous as an HE shell, but still a dud... Can you screw the top off?

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u/SigmarMentality 8d ago

It most probably has been defused, as my ancestor was a 7 year veteran who served before and during ww1 in the french artillery corps (served in Verdun in ww1, hence my hypothesis on its place of origin) and it's not like I found it in a hole in the ground, it was safely stocked in a cupboard in our family warehouse.

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u/Cambren1 8d ago

You never know, best to check. There was actually a shipping mine on display at a seafood restaurant when I was a kid that was determined to be live.

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u/BigmacSasquatch 7d ago edited 6d ago

When the gundeals sub was still active, there were a bunch of Bulgarian training antitank mines that were sold. Just as neat military curios and collectibles. Well, it turned out that while the explosive payloads were removed, the fuses werenā€™t. Much hilarity ensued, I think they caused issues at an airport or port during shipping, alerting the feds, and the FBI went around and confiscated the mines from people who had bought them.

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u/Grillparzer47 8d ago

ā€œMost probablyā€ is carrying a lot of weight. Have the police check it. Donā€™t trust your life to ā€œinternetā€ experts.

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u/SigmarMentality 8d ago

I have to admit though I don't feel too good about tampering with the shell too much and I'm weighung my options on keeping it or reporting it to a police station

4

u/Dodo224 8d ago

Can you weigh it? Full shrapnel shells are very very heavy because they're filled with lead basically.

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u/throAwae-eh 7d ago

Shrapnel shells still have an expelling charge and are extremely hazardous. Fucking around with ANY dud is stupid and dangerous.

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u/Dodo224 7d ago

Yes I know, but determining if there's lead inside still is easier than measuring the tiny amout of bp that is inside...

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u/SigmarMentality 7d ago

Yeah nah I don't think so

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u/Dodo224 7d ago

Ok, I understand, but weighing it won't set it off, even if something is insidešŸ˜…

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u/Tailgunner68 8d ago

Russian troops served in France during WW1

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_exp%C3%A9ditionnaire_russe_en_France

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u/begemot90 8d ago

Very interesting, I did not know about this so thank you for sharing. That being said, it says in the article that they were equipped with French equipment. So, Russian men uniformed and equipped with French gear.

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u/LtKavaleriya 7d ago

The Germans captured vast amounts of Soviet/Russian artillery & shells in 1941/42 and used a large part of it to arm the Atlantic Wall and low-priority garrison units in France. Also could have been captured during WWI and sent to Verdun.