Need help identifying spent 20mm rounds

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avjunky

Inactive
I was wondering if the 20mm experts out there could give me a hand identifying these spent rounds (see photo). The big one is marked 1945 40mm AP/T M81A(1) or (2) and I think is a safe inert round. The ring looks yellow in the photo but it's actually blue.

The one next to it (second from the right) has me a bit worried though, initially I couldn't find any color on it and thought that it was safe to handle, but after running some tap water on it, I found that it looks to be yellow and possibly HE :eek:

The one on the far left has lots of blue on it, so I think that it's probably a practice round and safe to handle.

The second from the left I'm guessing is a solid shot AP/T round, sort of like a mini version of the 40mm.

The 3rd one from the left looks has some blackish paint that I think makes it an inert practice round, but not positive. All of these rounds are weathered and the corrosion gives them a yellowish tint. The one that I think is HE definitely has some yellow paint on it though (not really visible in the photos).

I found these laying on the ground in the desert in an area that used to be an old test range. After finding that one of them is likely an old HE round though, I want to go back and return them. Any advice on what they are and what to do with them would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 

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After finding that one of them is likely an old HE round though, I want to go back and return them.
Click to expand...

I don't have a clue what you have. But if you suspect any are not inert quit playing with them! Call your local authorities, describe what you have and let them dispose of anything that needs to be disposed of.

It's not worth loosing hands, arms, or your life to take a chance with stuff like that which may be very unstable.

Be sure they know where you picked the stuff up so they can have military EOD check the place out for unexploded ordnance.
 
It appears that you have several potential live rounds that could go off for any reason or non reason at any point without warning.... Blue tips are generally training rounds and anything else is generally not a training round.

I would not collect these and would regard them as a grave danger to life and limb... I would turn them over to the proper authorities immediately.... I would not travel with them or move or touch them..

HE = High Explosive

Seriously in the strongest possible terms this look potentially seriously unsafe and possession is more than likely questionable or worse.
 
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I wouldn't even "go back and return them". Probably should give someone a call and have them dispose of the bombs...I mean, rounds.:eek:
 
i'm a long time EOD guy who has destroyed tens of thousands of live 20mm rounds and projectiles.

Left to right:

Target practice tracer, this projectile is harmless. Armor piercing incendiary tracer. The incendiary mixture was under the missing nose cap. This projectile is harmless. The third projectile is target practice and its harmless.

The fourth projectile is most likely very dangerous. It could be the PGU-28/B Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive Incendiary projectile(SAPHEI). See link below.

The objects in the nose of two and three are aluminum nose plugs.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/pgu-28.htm
 
Many thanks for the info. We were dirt bike riding and found these out in the desert and thought that they were all solid shot and only after bringing them back did I find out that at least one of them is very dangerous. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
I used to work with the Colt Mk 12 20mm in the USMC and those smaller rounds in the images look very similar to the Mk 12's but I wouldn't say definitively unless they were directly compared. Good luck with the id.
 
I talked to a Marine buddy of mine and he was able to get a hold of an EOD specialist to come take the dangerous rounds way. Lesson learned! :o
 
Glad you made it through this exercise with no real excitement!

The inert rounds are neat curiosities to hang on to.
 
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