Ww2 bullet / projectile from my uncle, what is it?

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  • SmileDocHill

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    This seems to be a manufactured round and not a simple cast bullet. the writing maybe looks Japanese? the other full rounds with it are Japanese but they were 7.7 jap and this appears to be closer to 50 caliber.



    6IIQIKu.jpg


    XjeRFcn.jpg


    VQIMJ7W.jpg


    mQJj1H2.jpg


    zugDidk.jpg
     

    Sigblitz

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    Knowns- CH head stamp is Fabrique, formerly FN, in German occupied Belgium.

    Unknowns- probably a 50 cal exploding bullet made for Japan.
     

    SmileDocHill

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    Knowns- CH head stamp is Fabrique, formerly FN, in German occupied Belgium.

    Unknowns- probably a 50 cal exploding bullet made for Japan.

    Interesting, is "headstamp" not a term limited to the location on the brass and at the end near the primer?

    If you are using your phone to see this you can zoom in and see the Japanese writing. (Not a counter point, just mentioning)
     

    Sigblitz

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    On the bottom of the bullet is CH. I don't know what would be on the bottom of the casing as it's not there. Fabrique was an Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan) ammunition plant during the war. It's an Italian design made for Japanese air machine guns at a major Axis ammunition plant.
     

    Sigblitz

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    To me, it looks like a casing used to be crimped on it. I wonder if it's still able to detonate.
    EDIT- That would have been a color band. It would have been crimped to the canilur.
    ZQtCzVf.jpg


    And it looks like there's some galling from being sent. I'm going to assume the canilur was lubricated to keep down wear on the barrel, which could be an explanation of why there's not a lot of apparent wear on the bullet.
    yBqAzkG.jpg
     
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    KokomoDave

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    I dunno. Unless it was paper patched ala Shooter, it would leave significant lands and grooves unless the rifling was worn out and accuracy would suffer. If I can find my old Weapons of the World from 1950, I will look it up.
     

    Sigblitz

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    I dunno. Unless it was paper patched ala Shooter, it would leave significant lands and grooves unless the rifling was worn out and accuracy would suffer. If I can find my old Weapons of the World from 1950, I will look it up.

    I think you're right about being pulled and deactivated. If I had it I would want to feel good about it being deactivated.
     

    SmileDocHill

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    I just noticed that the markings on the pic you posted are almost exactly the same also. I don't know Japanese but the "asterisk nine 'funny walking man' plus Ba" on my bullet only seems to vary slightly in the shape of the "funny walking man ".

    LXpSfEd.jpg



    eXTqgNl.jpg


    EeHOEq6.jpg




    That subtle change could mean the difference between incendiary and explosive round.

    I find it interesting that this has obviously been fabricated by machining and not just a cast metal. This had to be expensive compared to a regular solid projectile!


    Edit, meh. The more I look at it, the other pic is a star, and mine is a sideways crown looking shape.
     
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    Mgderf

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    O.k., what is with the hole in the side of the projectile?
    I would have thought that was from a demilling process, but the link shows the same hole in their examples.

    Woiuldn't a hole like that affect bullet flight?
     
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