Unexploded Ordnance - U.S. Civil War & WW1

[Olham 164]

http://reference.fin...ded%20ordnance/ Edited January 20, 2011 by Olham

[Olham 164]

And these a FLICKR are good: "Relics of WW1"

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glosters/sets/72157616167273771/with/3573435520/

 

Lou, don't miss the "shell fuses" - some even sawed up to show the interior.

[Slartibartfast 153]

Here in Austria last year they reported 28ton's of unexploded ammunition from WW2 alone makes you wonder how much else is out there...

[Wodin 0]

Everyday at a certain time, since the end of WW1 (Apart from '40-'45), unexploded ordnance is blown up in France.

[Bullethead 12]

The so-called American Civil War, more correctly know as The War Between the States, was back in black powder days, before high explosives. Thus, for shells of the same caliber, more recent stuff is far more dangerous.

 

However, even stuff from the 1860s can be quite dangerous. After all, more Americans died in that war than all our others put together. The amazing thing is that black powder is extremely hydroscopic and doesn't work when damp. But those old guys took such good precautions in packaging their shells that they've kept their powder dry up to the present time.

 

I once restored an 1848 Harpers Ferry musket that was dropped in a skirmish that too place in my cow pasture. It had been picked up shortly after the event and had spent the next century or so in a barn loft, so it was in pretty good shape. Anyway, the lug on the bottom of the hammer had busted so the weapon was incapable of firing. Whoever had carried it, however, didn't notice in the heat of the moment so had kept going through the motions, resulting in 6 rounds and charges rammed down the barrel on top of each other. When I dug them out, the powder still burned quite well.