Bullet and Shell Civil War Projectiles Forum
Relic Discussion => Artillery => Topic started by: CarlS on May 16, 2020, 09:34:42 PM
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I just got back a 3.5" caliber Britten half shell that I had cut and found a nice surprise inside. Anytime we cut a shell we are always hopefully to find something cool. I know the Brittens are really cool to cut anyway because of the hardened steel shrapnel pieces inside the cavity. This one offered two additional surprises:
- This is physical proof that wood adapters were used in the Brittens for time fuses. This shell still has it intact though a little compressed from impact. And you can clearly see the threads in the shell body to use when a percussion fuse is desired.
- The most interesting discovery was the spring clips used to hold the segmented core pieces in place. On the right side the saw happened to cut right where the vertical rows of inside dimples in the shell body were so the clips are exposed. On the left side if you look close you can make out make out the clips embedded in the hardened core pieces.
You can see the exterior of a complete version of this type shell here:
http://www.bulletandshell.com/Items/item.php?id=A01189
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Well, in my excitement to have seen something neat the only thing neat about it is that the saw cut it right where the dimples were to make the clips very visible. I looked at some other frags I have and can see where they were. But more importantly I should have looked in The Half Shell Book from Jack Melton where he has this pictured in two calibers. He describes from the patent the use of tin strips to help the hardened cast segments separate on the shell's explosion. One thing he mentions that I had not noticed and is clearly visible is the wire used to wrap the segments together. It shows as a small shiny dot about half way up the segments on each side. So what may have been common knowledge to most everyone else out there was a nice learning experience for me. Thanks for indulging me.