Found Shell - Hotchkiss 3in, Flat Nose

[hawesm]

I'm not a collector or artillery enthusiast, but I'm looking for suggestions as to what to do with a strange find: I was walking my dogs in the desert hills a few miles outside of Virginia City, Nevada and came across an interesting metal cylinder sticking out from the soil. I expected an old piece of mining equipment, specifically I thought it was likely the head off a sledgehammer. I pulled it out the dirt and inspecting it I noticed the rifling on the sides and a softer metal in the middle, and knew it was an artillery shell of some sort. I set it back down close to where I found it (it is still there). I found this forum and it was very helpful as I'm now certain that it is a US 3in Hotchkiss round. The question I have is what to do now. It's an interesting relic in a strange location (the civil war didn't make it to Nevada). It's fully intact as far as I can tell.  There is a plate with numbers on the nose.  it looks like it's been in the ground for a number of years, but not pitted like most civil war relics. Is it dangerous? Should i tell the authorities or find a specialist to examine it? It's not in a location where anyone will stumble across it (as I did). It's a remote area well off any beaten path.  I appreciate any info I can get. I will post a photo in a few days. 

[Selma Hunter]

Hawsem,

The only significant ACW site near Virginia City would be Fort Churchill - to the east of that place as I recall.  It was built in 1861 as "flank defense" for the Comstock, goldfields, etc.  Coin metal was still in very short supply at that point - on both sides.  The South employed cotton-backed notes and bonds for almost all foreign transactions and as the war progressed both state and nationally issued Confederate notes suffered disastrous inflation.  The yankees were very much afraid that the Confederacy would mount raids on the various shipments of bulk metals in Nevada from the Arizona & New Mexico Territories (then delineated horizontally versus the vertical borders of today). 

http://www.bing.com/search?q=fort+churchill+nevada&qs=AS&pq=fort+churchil&sc=8-13&sp=1&cvid=3b3770e4902d4b248bcee3e692056376&FORM=QBLH

[CarlS]

Hotchkiss shells were used well after the Civil War and a good bit in Indian, etc. action.  It may even be a practice range for troops stationed out that way after the war.   Your comment "plate with numbers on the nose" leads me to believe it is a dated percussion fused shell.  To answer your query on how dangerous, it should be considered dangerous if it is handled wrongly.  Given the very dry environment the shell and fuse is probably in very good shape so I wouldn't toss it around and it certainly doesn't need to be allowed to be near a fire or in something that might catch on fire such as a house.  You could call the authorities but they would most assuredly blow it up and that history would be lost.  Ideally if it could be gotten to someone like myself who could see it gets disarmed and returned to you or a local museum where it's history is maintained and shared.  But I and most people I know who do that are in the eastern US and don't regularly drive that far west the logistics is the challenge.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Ear hawesm ,
   Hello and welome aboard. Your find fits the description of the 3 Inch Hotchkis Case shot 2with a Wright tme fuse and may o may not havethe Hotchkiss pecussion fuze screwed into a central hole in the Wright fuse. If not present a blank closng plate may be screwd in its place.
Rgards,
John
P.s. To all, anyone besides me having trouble typing on here?

[hawesm]

Thanks for the information.  The illustration is a perfect depiction of what I've found. It does not have the percussion fuse screwed into the top - instead there is a blank plate sealing the hole. It appears the shell got to its location by being fired (the sabot is deformed). In the same location, I've found a number of arrowheads and I'm now wondering if this shell was fired at indians during some conflict. I'm looking for some historical context to explain it. I'm not going to bring it to the attention of the authorities since it's not posing a threat laying where it is. I may try to find an interested local historian, or ammunition expert to examine it.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Sir;
If you do decide to recover it, place it in a bucket of water for safety.
One of the numbers in the time ring shoud have a small hlole punched into it, if so then the shell dud fired. Water should enter tt and will help keep it much safer. see below illustration. Fig. 1 for a shell and Fig. 2 fora case shot, balls not shown and would be in uppercavity.
John

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To all,
  While I am on this subject. In Fig.2, someone tell me how the flame is transfered to the ejection charge.
John

[CarlS]

While I've never seen the insides of one I would suppose like the standard Hotchkiss that there is a Hotchkiss time adapter screwed into the center which runs down to the the pusher plate which has a hole in its center.  The fuse flash follows this path to the bursting charge in the lower portion of the shell. 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Carl,
  No center adapter that I am aware of.  Besides the flame from the time ring exits on the side.
John

[emike123]

That type fuse sometimes had a percussion fuse screwed in the center hole making it a combination fuse.  It sounds like the percussion fuse part was removed.  No matter...

Hawesm:  Welcome to the forum and thank you for approaching us.  I wish everyone who stumbles across one of these interesting pieces of history would type in a few keystrokes to Google before acting rashly.

If this shell has not exploded in 140+ years, it is not going to blow up spontaneously.  The gas can for the lawnmower in your garage is a much greater dangerous threat to you and humanity than this piece is.

So relax, have a Dr. Pepper, but do not call some well intentioned public servants because they will trot out all kinds of million dollar equipment to justify having wasted our tax money on locating said equipment in the US interior and to compensate for their 10 cent experience.  Then they will drive a multi vehicle caravan off to some remote location where they will gleefully blow it up, in the process scaring the bejesus out of nearby residents who think the Apocalypse has arrived in the process and destroying the history of this fight that this and the arrowheads document.  That's what they do, generally with no ifs ands or buts, and I suppose it is justifiable with more modern explosives, but these oldtime blackpowder ones are much simpler if only folks took the time to understand that.   

You are a bit off the beaten path for most of the Civil War crowd, but I think with a little diligence  someone who can safely take care of this for you can be found.  Hang in there in the meantime and again thanks for the outreach.

[CarlS]

John,

What fills that center threaded hole?  A solid plug?

[emike123]

Use the force reference books.  This shell of mine is in Jones' fuse book.  I'd unscrew the lead safety cap to show the percussion element but that would require me to exhaust more calories than it would for folks to crack open the book where it is shown.

[CarlS]

I guess I'm still confused.  John's image shows nothing in the center for the case shot shell.  John asked:
      In Fig.2, someone tell me how the flame is transferred to the ejection charge.
If it is case (i.e. the top is filled with matrix and balls other than a path down the shells center) then the outer ring will be blocked so the time punched ring can't ignite the shell.  A percussion fuse in the center would negate the value of being case as it would explode the shell when impacting thus negating the value of being case.  A percussion fuse in the center makes sense (and I was aware of that configuration) in the common shell but does not in a case shell.

[emike123]

Well it is a combination fuse, so the percussion element is the last resort.  I suppose better to blow up on contact than not at all.  But, maybe why Hawesm's fuse has a plate in the center and not the percussion fuse element is because this component was not wanted in that "case."

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To all,
    The percussion element is a mere Hotchkiss Percussion Fuze modified with a stud mounted externally in the center of the anvil cap. Flamible cotten waste is wrappd around the stud to catch the propellant flae and assist in igniteing the Wrigt time fuse. See below.
     It is only a combo fuze when the percussion element is installed, otherwise a blank plug is screwed in its place and it becomes a time only selection.
     Timed firing is normally used for a case shot to give an above ground burst. The Wright's flame exits at the side of the fuse unlike a Bormann with its central flame.
    I believe my original question is unanwsered.
Regards,
John