Casing for the Krupp 21 cm Mörser 10/16

[Dane Jensen]

Howdy all, I hope everyone is well!

Well I secured a very nice piece a few days ago for a very good price, an original casing to the 21 cm Mörser 10/16!

Take a peak!



It’s a total monster compared to the Kugelhelm!

I found this sitting in our stock at the shop, it has been there for at least 2 years and no one ever touched it. Out of curiosity I took a look and I noticed the Karlsruhe factory markings and December 1917 date! Ended up paying $40 for this guy which I’ve read is way under its actual value.

Never had any artillery pieces before so this is a fun one especially since I’ve heard these are hard to find.

Anyhow, thank you all for reading!

All the best,

Dane Jensen

 

[J.LeBrasseur]

Great find, love the old shell casings!

James

 

[Doug B]

Very cool piece Dane!

 

[JohnS3rd]

Dane,
Great find, and appropriate to have the shell casing to go with it. I know a place where you can double or even triple your investment ;-). Just kidding. Wonderful duo for your collection.
Best regards,
John

 

[gino1]

Nice, though strange that such casings go across the pond like that, and with such weight; those American soldiers surely have a lot from here, shipped a lot, didn't they?

 

[Doug B]

Nice, though strange that such casings go across the pond like that, and with such weight; those American soldiers surely have a lot from here, shipped a lot, didn't they?

They had a lot of ships!

 

[coert65]

Very nice casing Dane! I have one too, it sits on my window sill, it's home to one of my cactusses (variant) now.
Has a couple of handles attached to it, I bought it years ago at a fleamarket in the Ypres region.

I have several other casings, 2 77mm ones near my collection in the livingroom, other ones upstairs, in my other collection room. (2 37mm german ones, some french and british ones.

 

[Bobted]

I love these massive casings but never see them for sale! I was in Boulogne once having some lunch and the hotel lobby had a Big Bertha shell casing it must have been nearly 3 foot tall and wide like yours. Very cool. Rob

 

[Genghis Khan]

Interesting, I rarely see them, cool find for that price.

 

[gino1]

I find them regularly here in Belgium, you know, for around 40 dollars or something like that.

 

[Bobted]

I find them regularly here in Belgium, you know, for around 40 dollars or something like that.

Do you? You should buy them and sell them to us. Rob

 

[Steve Nick]

Do you? You should buy them and sell them to us. Rob

Very interesting find.

I find the Foot Artillery fascinating.

Here's a photo of a 21cm mortar team in Russia.

 

[Grabenmaxx]

Nice picture. That's quite a gathering there!
And only 1 Pickelhaube present in the below corner.

 

[coert65]

Nice picture. That's quite a gathering there!
And only 1 Pickelhaube present in the below corner.

Yes, with uberzug.

 

[gino1]

Do you? You should buy them and sell them to us. Rob

Heeeee, do you even know what their weight is, such a hulk? Sending 5kg just like that won't work, it's ammunition, you know.

 

[Kaiser Wilhelm II]

Shell casings are something that seem seldom talked about and perhaps unappreciated in forms other than trench art.
Quite a nice piece indeed.

 

[Bobted]

Heeeee, do you even know what their weight is, such a hulk? Sending 5kg just like that won't work, it's ammunition, you know.

Could you find out the cost of posting one next time you are at the post office, its not ammunition its a vase Rob

 

[michiel]

I posted these elsewhere on the forum, in this model of the morser 21 cm houwitzer the casings also appear, when making the model I wondered why this brass shell casings were loose from the rest of the ammunition, in the photo above it looks also as if the casing filled with black substance is separate part and not just empty shell after firing, it seems that when firing this type of gun the explosive charge and the grenade shot towards the enemy were two separate items? ( I could not find the answer online), see yellow marked casing in old photo

 

[coert65]

Could you find out the cost of posting one next time you are at the post office, its not ammunition its a vase Rob

Well, from the Netherlands to the US it's from 32€ , but it depends on the weight. Up to 20 kilograms.
A package from 100/50/50 cm's size.
So it should be possible.

Regards, Coert.

 

[Peter B]

As an Artilleryman I can make an educated guess and say that yes the casing and projectile are two sperate parts for that gun. Looks like they loaded and rammed home the projectile and then put the casing with the charge bags in.

So it all depends on the gun/howitzer and the caliber of the projectile.

For the M109 SP howitzer I have worked on the projectile and charge bags are separate and on different pallets and the projectile is loaded/rammed into the breach and then the charge bags are then put in after and then the breach is closed for firing.

On the 105mm towed howitzer I worked on the projectile and charges are in one container but separated and and they are "mated" and readied and the entire projectile and casing are loaded as one.

Nowadays with automated howitzers there are many different systems but I am a bit out of date on those.