French WW1 37 mm Cannon Shell with Projectile- INERT. This has no gun-powder and the primer has been struck to set it off. It has been unloaded and would be considered “inert”. It stands 6 7/8” tall. The projectile head is 4 1/4” tall when removed from the shell. Around the head are two 5/32” ribbed copper rifling bands. The entire projectile head including these bands has been chromium or nickel plated and there are scattered chips and minor loss of the plating overall. This example has: “998 GA 12-17” impressed into the base of the projectile head, and “12 1823” on the fuse tip. The base of the brass shell has the following headstamps; “37-85” indicating the caliber and model year of the round introduction, together with “PDPS 1.17” and a small French “flamimg bomb” logo. The fuse head was removed long ago with a pipe wrench to deactivate it. There is evidence of the wrench jaw marks on the fuse head, which are minor. It has been tightened onto the projectile body tightly and I have not attempted to take it off the projectile body. The head is tightly pressed into the shell, but can be wiggled loose to separate the projectile from the shell. These 37 mm shells were used widely in World War One and this is a nice example with two 1917 date markings. Price: $110.00 (ref. C-250a)