British B.L. Plain Percussion Fuze, No. 2

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

To All Interested,
    Can anyone confirm the B.L. Plain fuze being "dug" in the U.S.? Jack Melton shows one on his web site under Field, rifled, Armstrongshunt projectile. However, Jack has told me that the man he acquired it from is now deceased and the recovery cannot be confirmed.
    The reason for my inquiry is that the 1870 British Treatise on Ammunition states that the stamp "CAP" whould have been stamed on the fuze and, if any, would have been sold to the U.S. I did not see this stamp on the one that Jack has illustrated.
Regards,
John
P.S. The Roman numeral II should not be confused with the model No. 2 accepted for service use.

[CarlS]

John,

Nice drawing.  How is this fuse secured to the shell.  It is not threaded on the outside.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Carl,
  It just drops in and is secured by either the British fuse plug or the Armstrong E Time fuse, No.22.
John

[mccaul]

John, Your drawings are outstanding!!!
Ed

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Thank you for the kind comment Ed, good to see you again.
Regards,
John

[Dave the plumber]

that is one complicated fuze system !!  I wonder if the average guy in the field could figure out how to put it all together and work it.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Hi Dave,
  It came assembled. Simply remove the shipping plug, drop in the preloaded booster(main charge), drop in the No. 2 and screw in the No. 22.
   At setback both fuses armed with the No.2 masking sleeve setback onto a lead cup; the No.22 percussion element fired at setback starting the time fuse.  At the end of the set time the No. 22 would ignite its magazine, its flame passed down through the four holes in the top of the No.2 firing its percussion element which in turn ignited the booster. Shoujld the shell impact before the selected the No.2 fuze acted alone. See how simple?
Kind regards,
John

[Dave the plumber]

                  uh, no.

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Everyone please remember my original question- has the B.L. Plain Percussion Fuze No. 2 been dug in the U.S.? The British fuzes seen in Jones fuze book were originally mine that I brought back from England in 1975. The community really requires hard evidence of their recoveries.
Regards,
John