17 cm shell case

[merdock]

Hi.
this case came from a car boot sale it's very heavy,the painting to the side is obviously period and very well done,can't have been many of these brought back.
All the best Merdock

[merdock]

markings.

[merdock]

more markings,

[merdock]

date and eagle

[Matt L]

Hi Merdock,

Wow- that's a nice find... boy I wish I could find car boot sales like that! Thanks for sharing- I've never seen good details of one of these before.

Matt

[Kai-Steffen M.]

i know a similar one- but post war. it was made out of a 8,8cm shell used in the Kanonenjagdpanzer (KaJaPa) that my father commanded in 1968 and my grandma painted it- it was used in my grandparents house - at the door to put the umbrellas into it.
i think it still must be on the attic somewhere at my grandparents....

Gruß,
KSM

[merdock]

Hi,
I to think this one was used as a umbella stand i was at first going to clear the flowers off but changed my mind only paid £25 for it but nealy left it as it is very heavy.
All the best Merdock.

[Doug See]

If it were me, I'd leave the painting on. It's part of it's history now, even if done by a little blue haired lady. Nice find!

[Daniel Gilberti]

Nice case

This case is for 17 cm morser lang on affut (lafette)
6324 is number for case type
Normal longer for this case is 72,6 centimeter
so 170 x 726
Best regards Dan

[merdock]

Hi Dan ,
Whats the availability of these case's in europe ,they are very rare in England but that's to be expected as to the size not the sort of thing to put in a rucksack.
All the best Merdock

[Zünder]

Like Dan said, it’s a case for the "17 cm Kanone 18 in Mörserlafette", so a 17 cm canon on a houwitzercarriage.
It is regarded as one of the best guns produced during WW2 by the germans.
Developed by Krupp and produced by Hanomag, this 17,5 ton gun was capable of firing a 68 Kg shell to a maximum distance of 31 Km.
3 shells (apart from experimental ones) where used:

- 17 cm Kanonengranate 38, 68 Kg, 7,33 Kg of Fp02 (TNT)
- 17 cm Kanonengranate 38 (Haube),62,8 Kg, 6,1 kg of Fp02
- 17 cm Panzergranate 43, 71 Kg, 6,1Kg of explosives.

3 types of cases where used:

Nr. 6324, brass case
Nr. 6324St, steel
Nr. 6324 mehrteilige Kartusche, made out of seperate (steel) components.

The case was the “Hauptkartusche”(main cartridge), if necesary, additional powderbags could be added, which increased the range.
These were named: “Vorkartusche 3 der 17 cm K.Mrs.Laf”and “Vorkartusche 4 der 17 cm K.Mrs.Laf”.
For maximum performance, a “Sonderkartusche” was available, nr. 1 and 2.
To use these, the main charge was removed from the ( 6324) case and replaced by one or both “Sonderkartusche”.

Both shells and cases are quit rare, the steel and the “mehrteilige” are rarer than the brass one.
Simply because the brass one was more decorative and none corrosive.
Metal container for the cases show up frequently and are not to expensive (in europe..).


But it’s a great find, give me a ring if you to get rid of it.

[merdock]

Hi,
Thanks for the info,
But i would have thought the steel case's would have been more common as brass is more valuable as scap?

Please what's happened to the page format while i've been away it's now strange?
All the best Merdock

[Zünder]

Sure, brass is worth more as scrap.
But most cases were made from metal, which is not as nice as a shiny polished brass case.
If you found a few cases on the battlefield, one brass, one steel, which one would you take home ?
The steel ones were left behind, and especially the fired steel cases rusted away very fast.