Japanese 81mm Mortar - dead or alive?

[Mr. Scratch]

Picked up this Japanese 81mm HE mortar at the flea market today. Seller said his source used to refit ships, and he pulled this out of a stash in the bulkhead of a WWII Liberty ship. I want to make sure it isn't live.

The tube at the rear (in the fins) is empty. There is nothing in the nose of the fuse. There looks to be a small hole in the body of the mortar itself an inch or two down from the top (see pics). I can't get the fuse off without using tools, and I'd rather not do that if this thing is ready to go "POP".

Anyone help me out here?

[Mr. Scratch]

Just tried to give the fuse a light turn with a wrench, but it wouldn't budge. I don't want to put too much pressure on it.

The hole in the side does not appear to actually go through. It stops about 1mm inside the shell.

I can stick a wet pipe cleaner down the holes in the fuse; it goes in about 3" straight down, but emerges with a black soot-like substance on it.

According to http://www.inert-ord.net/jap02h/t100mort/index.html the wight of a loaded Type 100 mortar round should be 6.9 lb, of which almost 1 lb is explosive. Mine weighs 5.75lb.

Sooo...?

[juoneen]

I believe it takes a special tool to unscrew the fuse. Take the pipe cleaner (long if you have one, sold at some dollar stores) get some of the soot on it, then take the pipe cleaner outside away from the shell, and see if using a match on the soot ignites the soot, if so there is powder inside it .Can you see inside the hole with a small light? Be careful to not drop it on the fuse anyway just to be safe. I can see by the looks of the shell it has been in a place that was painted , and many war souvenirs have white paint on them if even tiny speckles when where the room(garages, attics, basements etc) the items have been kept since the war are repainted. That does not hurt the value , but I would not try and remove the paint as it may remove the military paint and designation stripe as to the type of ordnance it is. I have a japanese wartime munitions book somewhere here. I will see what I can find out , but cant do it till later. Maybe someone will have some other light to shed on the subject. I wouldn't use any more wrenches on it, as you may booger up the fuse .

[Mr. Scratch]

Dried out the "soot", and tried to light the pipecleaner. No fireworks.

Talked to some ordinance guys on another forum, and given that the pins and set screws have been removed from the fuse, plus the missing weight that pretty much equals the weight of the propellant and explosive charge, this thing is nicely dead as a doornail, and safe to own.

Thanks guys!