Need help identifying a projectile

[alks207]

About a year ago I was walking the coastal railroad just south of Del Mar, and I stumbled upon this. Makes me wonder why would anyone fire a gun towards the coast. Maybe ricochet, or an accidental discharge? Anyone know what gun this was fired from?

[hermosabeach]

I'm stumped

New saw #'s on a projectile before

[TKM]

https://bulletpicker.com/cartridge_-20mm-hei_-mk-1.html

[alks207]

https://bulletpicker.com/cartridge_-20mm-hei_-mk-1.html

According to this, I have an unexploded HEI projectile then?

[Spanky8601]

As a youth in the 60ies, I found lots of projectiles in the bluffs along the coast. A lot of that land was target range for planes and ships getting ready for overseas deployment. Maybe someone found it and dropped it on the RR tracks for you to find.

[floogy]

According to this, I have an unexploded HEI projectile then?

Yeah, that's what the red tip means. I would be very cautious when handling it. Not sarcasm or joking, be careful. Put it in a container and place it outside where it won't be disturbed while you figure out what to do with it. Red tip usually is tracer these days, but it's possible it was a tracer also, note the fuze on the tip that sets off the explosive. Looks like genuine UXO.

Looks like something from an aircraft or ground based cannon. Likely WW2 era.

[SanDiego619]

How interesting! It is not embedded into the wood like it was fired from off shore. I wonder if it was stuck in the dirt somewhere, someone picked it up and dropped it. It seems like if it came from a ship and landed right there it would be embedded into the wood.

[G-forceJunkie]

I wonder if it has been imbedded in the wood for decades and gradually got exposed. The driving band at the bottom screams ww2 era cannon projectile, 20mm would be a good guess. Whats the diameter, 20mm should be a bit over 3/4"

[alks207]

How interesting! It is not embedded into the wood like it was fired from off shore. I wonder if it was stuck in the dirt somewhere, someone picked it up and dropped it. It seems like if it came from a ship and landed right there it would be embedded into the wood.

It was imbedded in the railroad tie and in the pictures you can see large area of wood was splintered off upon impact. I had to pry it out with a pair of leatherman. I was thinking it might have been a CWIS round, but then why the heck would anyone be shooting towards Del Mar? Lol

[alks207]

Yeah, that's what the red tip means. I would be very cautious when handling it. Not sarcasm or joking, be careful. Put it in a container and place it outside where it won't be disturbed while you figure out what to do with it. Red tip usually is tracer these days, but it's possible it was a tracer also, note the fuze on the tip that sets off the explosive. Looks like genuine UXO.

Looks like something from an aircraft or ground based cannon. Likely WW2 era.

Yeah, I will probably go at the end of a pier and chuck it in the ocean. Weird that it didn't go off upon impact. I'm glad I asked.

[Mongoos913]

Dumb question, but is it US or maybe from another country? During WWII who know what was shot off shore towards land

[223556]

That’s freaking awesome! If it is a HE round then I would definitely be very careful.
If not then I would keep it.

[alks207]

I took some more pictures. By the looks of it, it probably did ricochet off of something ad evident by a chunk of brass missing on the tip of the projectile.

[alks207]

Dumb question, but is it US or maybe from another country? During WWII who know what was shot off shore towards land

It has a "No." for number, so it was made by an English-speaking country, also it was fired after the railroad was laid, which I am not sure when it was laid

[alks207]

I wonder if it has been imbedded in the wood for decades and gradually got exposed. The driving band at the bottom screams ww2 era cannon projectile, 20mm would be a good guess. Whats the diameter, 20mm should be a bit over 3/4"

Sure, does measure 20mm.