very rare things

[Norstrom]

I want to show you very rare objects. It?s small sacks which contain gun powder inside the canon shells. They fitted to 12,7 cm

[Norstrom]

(I didn?t reach to finish my text before the message went away)

You can find these small sacks on the bottom of German shells. They have to be un fired of course.

[Norstrom]

3,7 cm caliber.

[Paul R]

What are they made from? Silk?

[Norstrom]

Hi! I think it?s made of ordinary wool but the sack has been in water for a numbers of year and still in good condition. The whole shell were inpacked with gun powder sticks and after you dried one in the air a couple of minutes, it was ready to burn when lighted! Picture comes!

[Norstrom]

German Gun Powder. Still working!

[nesredep]

3,7 cm caliber.

Hello!

Very interesting and rare item you show.

All the best

Nesredep

[leigh kitchen]

So they're impregnated with gunpowder, is that the way they were made or the way they've ended up after soaking in powder for decades?

[peter monahan]

Norstrum

I believe that the substance inside your bag is 'cordite', the propellant in most modern ammunition except, oddly enough, some large artillery shells. Cordite can be moulded or shaped into various forms, including the rod shape you show. The rod shape, by the way, is intended to leave air space so that the whole charge will 'burn' at once.

Also, while cordite is quite stable as explosives go, it is made up of 30-50 % nitroglycerin mixed with various stabilizers and old explosives are nothing to fool with! The piece you show is, by itself, powerful enough to take your hand off at the wrist or worse.

Don't panic, but if I were you I'd only keep a small amount to display with the shell and bag and get rid of the rest. If you don't want to inviolve the police or whoever does that in Sweden, consider putting it back in water - a river or a lake, spread around so there isn't any large amount of it in one place.

Neat rare thing!

Peter

[Norstrom]

Hi Peter!

Thank you for your detailed report! I can see that the cordite react in the same way as new forms of gun powder in modern shells.

All the best Norstrom

[christerd]

Hi Norstrom,

German 127 mm and 37 mm anti aircraft guns ? Could they come from Tirpitz?

And I agree with Peter in getting rid of the propellant, as long as its in cold water it is pretty safe but up in warmer temperature .... not very good.

Nice items !

Christer

[Norstrom]

Hi there Christer!

The German 127 mm and 37 mm shells come from destroyers!

Norstrom

[christerd]

:cheers:

Aha, then I understand

Have a nice weekend up in the North, down here its rainy and grey

Christer