Large anti-tank round i found. Any ideas on where its from or what type it is?

Edwood7

Edwood7

Joined
Mar 31, 2010
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Here’s a mystery for you guys.

I found this large shell in the hands of a few kids in a hell hole somewhere out in northern Mexico (they clearly where trying to make it go off), it looks like a live round, does not have the holes or groves the dummy or practice rounds have.

The shell has no markings on it. It has the looks of large anti-tank round but not like any I’m familiar with. It’s about 8 inches long. Any ideas on what type of round this is or where it came from.
I know that there are some depleted uranium rounds out there, so this one is in storage till I know what it is. Thanks guys.
 
Looks more like a 25mm M794 dummy round to me. Maybe some Army vehicles working near there. They use them to train and function check their weapon systems. If it is the M794, the primer pocket is filled with plastic and the projectile is brazed on. If you have a picture of the base it would help.

Ed, have one of your EOD guys check it out.
Stay safe buddy,
Jim
 
jwaj said:
Looks more like a 25mm M794 dummy round to me. Maybe some Army vehicles working near there. They use them to train and function check their weapon systems. If it is the M794, the primer pocket is filled with plastic and the projectile is brazed on. If you have a picture of the base it would help.

Ed, have one of your EOD guys check it out.
Stay safe buddy,
Jim
Click to expand...

I have seen most if not all of the types of rounds the army uses; it does not look like any dummy round I have ever seen. I will take a picture of the bottom of it tomorrow. I will get it to or EOD guys in a few days, I just taught you guys would get a kick out of it.
 
Former EOD Guy here. Looks like an M794 to me. Training ammo for more complex autocannons often doesn't have holes or grooves, in the interest of reducing jams and feed malfunctions--especially with belted ammo. That said, I haven't played around with an M242 personally so that's pure speculation. Here's everything I was able to dig up on the M794. Definitely get it checked out by your EOD guys though--they've got access to real publications instead of just google!

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Source: TM-43-0001-27 (Army Ammunition Data Sheets for Small Caliber Ammunition):
The Cartridge, 25mm Dummy M794 Linked (DODIC A967) is used for non-firing system checkout used with the 25mm M242 Automatic Cannon for training of the crew. This M794 Cartridge is a modified M793 Target Practice with Tracer (TP-T) projectile silver brazed to a modified standard cartridge case and is completely inert. The cartridge case cavity is filled through an enlarged primer hole with an epoxy resin filler to approximate the weight of the M792 High Explosive Incendiary-Tracer (HEI-T) and M793 TP-T Service Cartridges. The threaded nose of the TP-T projectile is silver brazed to the projectile body to improve physical integrity. The external configuration of the M794 metal dummy cartridge (by use of standard components) is the same as that of the M792 HEI-T and M793 TP-T Service Cartridges. These cartridges are linked together by the M28 link.

The M794 dummy round is a Class V item Previous dummy rounds were made from fired casings and had plastic tips. Because the casing of a fired round is slightly expanded, such rounds could get stuck in the breech of the 25-mm gun. The use of such rounds should be discontinued and the cast metal rounds requisitioned. The M794 dummy round can be used to train crewmembers in the following tasks.

-Load and unload the HE and AP ready boxes.
-Load the 25-mm feeder.
-Apply immediate action on the 25-mm.
-Unload and clear the 25-mm gun.
​
 
Between WWI and WWII anti-tank rounds like the Lahti 20mm were used .But by WWII tanks became a good bit tougher so the 20mm was phased out. Then the shaped charge was introduced like that used in our Bazooka or the RPG or Panzer Faust . Air drop shaped charge like the Navy's Rockeye bomblet ,introduced in Viet Nam .Proved excellent in Desert Storm.
 
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