Item Number: A01144

Item Title: MK-23 Practice bomb from WWII era

Price: $85

Shipping: Not included

Provenance: US

Type:

Size: 2.47in across the fins, 8.25in long

Sabot:

Fuse:

Book:

Location Recovered: Unknown

Description:The AN MK-23 practice bomb was one of three similar miniature practice bombs used for low-altitude horizontal or dive bombing practice during WWII. The other two were the AN MK-5 and the AN MK-43. The MK-23 has an overall length of 8.25" and is made of cast iron. The fins are 2.5" in length. The weight, when empty, but with firing pin was 2 lbs-14 oz. while when armed was approximately 3 lbs-0 oz.

The main differences among the three miniature bombs were that the MK-23 was made of cast iron, the MK-5 was made of zinc-alloy, and the MK-43 was made of lead-antimony. This gave each bomb a different weight for a different purpose. All three bombs used a 10-gauge shotgun shell as the signal (AN MK-4) as explained below. The MK-23 was the most common of the miniature practice bombs and was mostly used for land targets, but could not be used against armored-deck target boats. Five bombs could be carried in the MK-43 Bomb Rack and eight could be carried in the MK-47 Bomb Rack which is explained below.

http://www.nebraskaaircrash.com/practicebombs/anmk23.html


UPDATE: After reading this I realized I had a extra long shotgun shell case that goes inside this (see last picture). The firing pin is inside the shell now and the extra long shotgun shell is unused and empty and I'll include it to complete this neat device.