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.50 Caliber shell find and question [WW2]

euryan

Full Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2013
Messages
106
Location
Berlin, Germany
Hi everyone,

I found this massive bullet casing today in a German forest. I was surprised to find it as I am not familiar with any fighting in this area during that war. The shell casing states "42 TW" on the bottom, which I found out meant it was made in 1942 at Twin Cities, MN.

While it certainly could have been fired on the ground, I find it more plausible that an aircraft fired this bullet because there was no fighting that I am aware of in this area and I have yet to find another casing in dozens of hours spent looking. That being said, here is my question: Did WW2 fighter planes discard their shell casings or were they kept after firing. Secondary question, did the British use American ammo, could this have been from a British plane?

Thanks in advance!

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my dad was a gunner on a B52 bomber during WW2...they used to throw empty 50's out of the plane when going over farm houses. they whistled on the way down, just like a bomb. the guys in the plane would laugh at the people in , or near the houses running for cover, thinking a bomb was dropping on them.

also, some guns were set up for the empty hulls to fly out of the turret, and fall to the ground.
 
B52???

my dad was a gunner on a B52 bomber during WW2.

Hook, your dad did one hell of a good job considering the B52 didn't go into service until 1955, ten years after WW2 ended. I think you've got your planes confused.:?:

To the OP--- what part of Germany are you referring to? There was fighting pretty much all over it.
 
Hook, your dad did one hell of a good job considering the B52 didn't go into service until 1955, ten years after WW2 ended. I think you've got your planes confused.:?:

To the OP--- what part of Germany are you referring to? There was fighting pretty much all over it.

lol i think you're right. hell i'm 57 years old and my memory sucks. i dont remember the type bomber he was on, but i do remember all the stories :lol:

but you're right about one thing....my dad DID do a hell of a job ! he made it back home didnt he? .
 
Awesome finds. I've driven by the Army munitions plant many times. It's closed now. I do not want to detect it at all :lol:
 
lol i think you're right. hell i'm 57 years old and my memory sucks. i dont remember the type bomber he was on, but i do remember all the stories :lol:

but you're right about one thing....my dad DID do a hell of a job ! he made it back home didnt he? .

You're right, Hook. I wasn't trying to knock him at all. We owe an unpayable debt to those old timers and the hell most of them went thru. I didn't particularly like the attitude that some of them had about returning Vietnam Vets and the scoffing they did about that war (it's not a real war) at the time but they did a great job on very short notice.
 
Very possible it could have been tossed by a crew member flying over or like some WWII fighters, after the round had been fired, the case fell from a discharge chute in the wing. Good on the research.
 
It could have fallen out of a shot up airplane. Way too many possibilities but a lot of the B-25's came back with huge holes in them and that would be one possibility as they held 8 50 cal guns. Other planes also had 50 cals. Your theory is possible. BUT I believe most planes were made to contain the brass shells. Not entirely sure though.
 
Here is an interesting link on World War II. The first reply says they were dropped through a hole in the bottom of the gun.
 
Casings drop free

We have several old gunnery ranges from the WW2 era here in northern Florida. On one range that we have figured out pretty good, the aircraft would come from the west and fly due east. As they spotted the gunnery target, they would open up with their machine guns. The spent casings drop free. After a few hundred practice runs, the ground is almost covered with spent brass. It's everywhere on the west to east pass towards the target. We've found so many, we don't even bother with picking them up. I've actually taken some back to the woods and put them back where I found them.
 
We have several old gunnery ranges from the WW2 era here in northern Florida. On one range that we have figured out pretty good, the aircraft would come from the west and fly due east. As they spotted the gunnery target, they would open up with their machine guns. The spent casings drop free. After a few hundred practice runs, the ground is almost covered with spent brass. It's everywhere on the west to east pass towards the target. We've found so many, we don't even bother with picking them up. I've actually taken some back to the woods and put them back where I found them.

As much as brass is worth, I have NO idea why you are not collecting it. You can get 100.00 off a full 5 gallon pail. The 50 cals I find are all off WW1 airplanes.
 
Sorry for the late reply, went to go explore a few Egyptian Pyramids this week. :cool: P.S. There were pull tabs everywhere you walked. :lol: -- Thanks everyone for your comments and information!
 
As much as brass is worth, I have NO idea why you are not collecting it. You can get 100.00 off a full 5 gallon pail. The 50 cals I find are all off WW1 airplanes.

Our scrapers won't take any kind of fired brass because of the gun powder issue. They picked out everyone of my shell casings I had in my brass bucket
 
Because I don't need to

As much as brass is worth, I have NO idea why you are not collecting it. You can get 100.00 off a full 5 gallon pail. The 50 cals I find are all off WW1 airplanes.
I think you mean WW2 airplanes, because the first .50 machine gun underwent trials on 15 October 1918, and did not go into production until after WW1.

I don't need the money. That's why I don't scrap artifacts, besides the issue of leaving something for the archaeologists in the future. I'd rather see a kid find one on the beach and treasure it as a relic of WW2, than to get the .25 cents it might bring (if you can find someone who will buy shell casings -that's a big deal to a lot of them).
 
I think you mean WW2 airplanes, because the first .50 machine gun underwent trials on 15 October 1918, and did not go into production until after WW1.

I don't need the money. That's why I don't scrap artifacts, besides the issue of leaving something for the archaeologists in the future. I'd rather see a kid find one on the beach and treasure it as a relic of WW2, than to get the .25 cents it might bring (if you can find someone who will buy shell casings -that's a big deal to a lot of them).

No I mean WW1. I guess some of the trials were here in Michigan at Selfridge AFB now ANG. This is also where the they put the FIRST machine guns on biplanes the Lewis machine gun. ALL the 50 cal casings I have been finding are 1918 - 1921.

I have actually kept MOST the 50 cals. The ones that are cracked and dented I have scrapped. ALL the 30 cals from 1909 - 1922 in which I find hundreds I have scrapped EXCEPT the live ones. I have no problem with the scapper here taking my brass.

I did NOT know that I am finding some of the very first 50 cal shells with the ones dated 1918. Thank you for that information!!!

Here is a box of brass I just scrapped and got a little over 65.00 for. If you look closely you can see at least 4 50 cals.

 
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