New Additon: Shrapnel

[CarlS]

I thought I'd share one of my favorite things I picked up at the Franklin Show a couple weeks ago.  It is the piece of shrapnel below and is from a 13-inch mortar ball.  The label that came with it indicates it weighs 82 pounds and given the complete shell is 210 pounds it's right at 40% of the complete shell.  Especially nice is that it has one of the lifting ears and nearly half the fuse hole.  It looks like it'll clean up nicely.

[scottfromgeorgia]

Any provenance on that bad boy?

[CarlS]

No; sadly there wasn't.  The fellow I got this from had picked it up at auction.  I don't know if the auction house didn't have that info or if the seller didn't ask but he didn't know when I got it.  The rust doesn't strike me as a West Point shell and it doesn't have the tell tale scratches of much of the iron that comes from there.  I would guess from along the Mississippi somewhere, possibly Vicksburg.

In the 70's I found a number of pieces near Ft. Pillow.  One was nearly this big and I left it in the woods as I still had a lot of hunting to do and couldn't haul it up and down those river bluffs while hunting.  I had always wished I had kept it but this one will serve as a good replacement.

[Pete George]

  Thanks for the photos and post.  Defniely a "cool frag."

  In addition to intact projectiles, I've liked (and collected) what I call "interesting frags" because besides just looking cool, they can be educational.  They can show things which cannot be learned by observing an intact projectile.

  If you wouldn't mind, please drag out your digital calipers and tell us the shellwall thickness of your very cool 13" Mortarshell frag.  I'm curious about whether its shellwall measurement matches up with the Ordnance Department specifications for that caliber of shell.

Regards,
Pete

[CarlS]

A couple inches to each side of the fuse it showed to be 2.54 inches and the fuse was 2.58 so pretty consistant.  The bottom edge which would have been up on the side just below the center line of the shell measured 2.47 so slightly smaller.  It's rather amazing they could get the sand core that well centered.

[emike123]

Carl:  For the provenance if one survives, the auction was in early September and run by this place:

Mike Clum, Inc. PO Box 2, 7795 US Highway 22 NE.
Rushville, OH 43150-0002
(740)536-7421 (Office) - (740)536-9220 (Gallery) - (740)536-7242 (Fax)

At one time I had a list of the items and each had whatever provenance came with the pieces, but I don't have the list anymore.  My guess is they can give you it, but on their site the listings only go back to 10/1

[relicrunner]

Well Carl, I am happy that piece of shrapnel was one of your favorites! 
If you'd been 5 minutes later, it would have been one of my "favorites"!! At least it wasn't scooped by emike.......

[emike123]

I had two bites at that particular apple at the auction and as it was being wheeled into the Franklin show, but I have to leave something for Carl or he gets grumpy.

In truth, its a cool piece.  Will make a good birdbath.

I have been busy today and banned 5 pages of would be spammers from the site and ok'd one new member (welcome RelicSeaker, you better not be a spammer!).  In all the confusion of doing this thankless work, I have been known to get over eager and mistakenly ban folks who weren't in fact Russian porn dealers or Chinese Viagra sellers, especially folks who make jokes at my expense.  I try to be perfect....

[alwion]

we do appreciate the work

[speedenforcer]

Thanks for this wonderful site, we do appreciate it.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

We love you Mighty Mouse!
John

[scottfromgeorgia]

What's wrong with Russian porn dealers and Chinese Viagra sellers? Seems like this group might benefit from both.

[CarlS]

We are glad to provide it.  We get as much out of it as anyone with what we learn and the people we meet.  It's been a load of fun.

I will echo Mike's comment on the computer spammers.  It's amazing how many we have to delete each day.  I try to log in about 4 times a day to delete them so along with what Mike gets there is quite a load.  It's on my todo list to address that.  I also need to update the forum software to the newer version which might help with spam management.