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kronckew · 18th January 2013, 11:03 AM

the lines of torres vedras

what context was it found in? spherical shells were transported with the fuse hole plugged with tow, and the fuze was added just before firing.

the shells themselves might also be shipped in a padding of tow (fibrous material, hemp, cotton, etc.) or with a wooden plug. if the example was buried and it was wet enough to corrode the exterior that badly, the black powder filler (bursting charge) would have the active ingredients dissolved out by the ground water, and tow or plug could have filled the interior to some extent, and decomposed.

howitzer shells generally had the area where the fuse was inserted re-enforced to withstand being fired. fuse holes were tapered to fit the factory made tapered beech fuse plug generally used, which would have had a factory cut & timed paper gunpowder fuse inserted (4,4.5,5 sec were std. in the british army of the time). the bursting charge was sometimes supplemented with lead balls and/or combustibles like tar/pitch or sulphur which could take a fair amt. of the interior space. the spherical shells were generally strapped with iron bands to a wooden 'sabot' base, not inserted in the cannon loose. windage would light the fuse which faced forwards when fired.

i found a reference that a 5.85 in. coehorn mortar (US) had a 0.875 in. fuse opening. the same round could be used in a similarly sized howitzer. specific howitzer shells had smaller fuse holes. naval shells in the 6in. range could have 0.65 to 0.75 in. fuse openings.

later (after 1829ish) fuses were changing to metal & screwed into the shell, generally with larger threaded openings. impact, and timed fuses of various types were used. the US and CSA used not only wooden plug fuses but metal ones, screwed ones, mechanical timers, etc. during the american civil war (war between the states).

18th January 2013, 11:03 AM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	the lines of torres vedras what context was it found in? spherical shells were transported with the fuse hole plugged with tow, and the fuze was added just before firing. the shells themselves might also be shipped in a padding of tow (fibrous material, hemp, cotton, etc.) or with a wooden plug. if the example was buried and it was wet enough to corrode the exterior that badly, the black powder filler (bursting charge) would have the active ingredients dissolved out by the ground water, and tow or plug could have filled the interior to some extent, and decomposed. howitzer shells generally had the area where the fuse was inserted re-enforced to withstand being fired. fuse holes were tapered to fit the factory made tapered beech fuse plug generally used, which would have had a factory cut & timed paper gunpowder fuse inserted (4,4.5,5 sec were std. in the british army of the time). the bursting charge was sometimes supplemented with lead balls and/or combustibles like tar/pitch or sulphur which could take a fair amt. of the interior space. the spherical shells were generally strapped with iron bands to a wooden 'sabot' base, not inserted in the cannon loose. windage would light the fuse which faced forwards when fired. i found a reference that a 5.85 in. coehorn mortar (US) had a 0.875 in. fuse opening. the same round could be used in a similarly sized howitzer. specific howitzer shells had smaller fuse holes. naval shells in the 6in. range could have 0.65 to 0.75 in. fuse openings. later (after 1829ish) fuses were changing to metal & screwed into the shell, generally with larger threaded openings. impact, and timed fuses of various types were used. the US and CSA used not only wooden plug fuses but metal ones, screwed ones, mechanical timers, etc. during the american civil war (war between the states). Last edited by kronckew; 18th January 2013 at 11:14 AM.