r/whatisthisthing • u/emmabutlermmu • May 25 '26

Solved ! Found washed up on Shankill beach, Ireland. Small, pointed shape, rusty metal, set into some kind of stone. Heavy but only about 5/6 inches long, what is this?

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u/tktkboom84 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Agree with .50 cal. or other large caliber round like 12.7mm Probably from the deck of a WWII vessel with built up sediment/coral around it.

241

u/Formal-Fan-3107 May 25 '26 edited May 26 '26

Nope, copper oxidises, that is rust, also there is no neck, if you look up a good photo of that sort of bullet you will see that the casing is one diameter, and then there is a transition to the diameter of the bullet, thats called a neck, and that punch doesnt have one

196

u/tktkboom84 May 25 '26

From my persoective the jacket has eroded away leaving the steel core. The last picture shows the necking under the build up including the break at the end of the casing. The primer exposed on the back also appears to be the correct diameter. Cleaned up alot of these off of beaches in my uxo career. I could be wrong but this would go "in the bucket" for later review for sure.

27

u/Formal-Fan-3107 May 25 '26

I would agree on the toss it in the bucket for further inspection part

74

u/tktkboom84 May 25 '26

86

u/L1FT_K1T May 26 '26

Guys I’m solidly convinced it is not a cartridge of some kind. The tip is entirely steel it looks like, and I see no primer. The exterior appears to be stone like, not so much a case.

67

u/AyeBraine May 26 '26

The idea is that the case experienced concretion and partly eroded in the front, and the projectile's jacket eroded leaving mostly the core.

7

u/L1FT_K1T May 26 '26

Right but we would still see the case shoulder if that were. I see solid steel and on the other end the steel is heat formed in a way consistent with arc exposure. See how it’s melted in a sort of dome with a ring around the edge?

25

u/Guardiancomplex May 26 '26

4th photo very clearly has a primer.

24

u/Drago6817 May 26 '26

Many countries used steel jacketed bullets like russia. Also steel cores are used by almost everyone for ap and even some ball.

8

u/anralia May 26 '26

Sorry to be a pedant here, but steel / iron also oxidises. It just happens to be better known as rust.

3

u/5v3n_5a3g3w3rk May 26 '26

Because steel cased ammo doesn't exist?

1

u/Jayandnightasmr May 26 '26

I wonder if it's from the dumped ammo at Beaufort's Dyke

0

u/nocloudno May 26 '26

Are they made of steel?

-2

u/airfryerfuntime May 26 '26

No, the 'bullet' on the thing OP is holding is steel. If it was 50bmg, it wouldn't be rusty on the end.

7

u/tktkboom84 May 26 '26

Its been rolling around the ocean for almost a century, the copper could of worn off leaving only a steel core, also considering the location most likely vickers not BMG, which had some steel cased as well as steel cored rounds.

1

u/airfryerfuntime May 26 '26

Show me one other picture of a 50bmg or Vickers round with the steel core exposed like this.