i found an old bullet on the beach yesterday and want to know more about it and a possible value?

Question

i found an old bullet on the beach yesterday and want to know more about it and a possible value. It was large and i think it might bve from the world war two era. it has the numbers 20 mmm on it and says 40 vox or something. the tip looks gold. does anyone know what it is? it was off the atlantic coast in florida

Answer 1

Value? none, there were hundreds of thousands of 20mm rounds made and they can be bought in new condition for cents, have a look on ebay.
The 40 is probably the date of manufacture, 1940.
The gold tip that you refer to is brass and there is every chance that it is a high explosive round.
Even though it may have been on the beach or underwater since the war, some explosives inside may still be sensitive, so do not mistreat it, above all, do not try to dismantle the bullet head.
I would suggest that you either hand it to a police officer or any hunting man that you know for disposal.

Answer 2

JD has it right. Tips were color coded for their intended use. Gold or yellow generally is a marking for high explosives. Grenades ( real ones) will also have a yellow stripe around the top of it.

If this is in you house, don't touch it. If there is a hole drilled through the casing, it MAY be deactivated but don't take a chance. The navy may have dumped old ordnance from WWII in the ocean and it may have washed up. After you tell the police about it, they may call in bomb disposal if it appears live. Nothing to mess with.

When I was working, we found dynamite in a persons garage. It was 40 years old and had "sugar" on it. You can bet I called the bomb disposal unit.

Answer 3

First off, Outsidebreaker is a moron giving smart-aleck rotten advise, ignore him on this question.

I agree with JD, that old shell could be very unstable, call the cops or Coast Guard Ordanance Disposal Unit if there is a Coast Guard Station near you.

And when you call the cops, don't call and say, "I have a bomb," or "I found a bomb." Use the same calm quiet manner you used in your question here. Acting highly excited or agitated can lead to unpleasant results.

Answer 4

The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon (or more commonly today, autocannon) and not a heavy machine gun.

There are relatively few weapons which have been built which fire projectiles between .50 caliber and 20 mm caliber, though the 14.5 mm caliber was used by some Soviet machineguns such as the KPV and antitank rifles such as PTRS and PTRD.

A very small number of anti-tank rifles have been produced in 20 mm and up calibers.


Current Weapons:

M61 Vulcan: 20×102
M197 Gatling gun 20×102
Oerlikon KAA: 20×128
Rheinmetall MK20 Rh202: 20×139
Denel NTW-20: 20x83.5 (NTW 20)

Historical Weapons:

AN-M2: 20×110
Hispano: 20×110
Hispano-Suiza HS.404: 20×110
Hispano-Suiza HS.804: 20×110
Lahti L-39: 20×138 Solothurn Long
Mauser MG 213: 20×135
M39: 20×102
Oerlikon FF: 20×72RB
Mauser MG 151/20: 20×82
Oerlikon F, FFL: 20×100RB
ShVAK: 20×99R

Answer 5

If you are under 18 give it to your parents and have them call the police to dispose of it.

What you have here could be one of these listed, which could if mishandled kill you or others and even catch a house on fire.
Note some of the ones listed are high explosive tipped

It has “no value” to speak of and you need to turn it over to the police for disposal.

View the links and see if it matches the drawing and color codes.

M56A3/A4 High-explosive incendiary. Functioning with both explosive and incendiary effect, the M56A3/A4 HEI is intended for use against ground targets, including lightly armored vehicles. This thin-walled steel projectile can produce causalities to exposed personnel within a ± 2 meter radius. It has a base plate which prevents ignition of the incendiary mixture by propellant gases. The M56A3/A4 (diagram) is assembled with a single-action M503A3 point-detonating fuse. The explosive charge is 165 grains (.37 ounces); the incendiary charge is 20 grains. The HE mix and the incendiary mix are combined into one pellet in the A3 HEI. To improve the fire-start capability of the A4, the incendiary pellet is inserted into the projectile and then the HE pellet is added.
http://www.aircav.com/img/cav/m56a3.gif

M242/M242A1 High-explosive incendiary-tracer. Except for the addition of a tracer element, the M242 / M242A1 HEI-T is basically the same structurally and functionally as the M56A3 / A4.
http://www.aircav.com/img/cav/m242.gif

M246 / M246A1 High-explosive incendiary with tracer and self-destruct feature. The M246 / M246A1 HEI-T-SD is intended for use against aerial targets. It has an HEI charge, a self-destruct relay charge, and a tracer element. It is assembled with an M503A3 point detonating fuse. The tracer burns for about 5 seconds whereupon the relay charge ignites and detonates the HEI charge low order. If impact with the target occurs before self-destructing, the PD fuse causes the HEI charge to detonate high order. The M246 has the HE and incendiary mix combined as one pellet; the M264A1 has the HE and incendiary charge loaded as separate pellets.
http://www.aircav.com/img/cav/m246.gif



D58


Hunting with Rifle, Pistol, Muzzle loader and Bow for over 3 decades.
Reloading Rifle, Pistol and shotgun for over 3 decades.

Answer 6

The heck with the ballistic's and the history lesson. Yellow or Gold tipped 20MM ammunition is a HIGH EXPLOSIVE round. If its LIVE it can be very unstable and extremely dangerous to handle, considering it could be of 1940's vintage. They were used by the U.S. Navy as an anti-aircraft cannon round.

I advise you to contact your local Police and advise them of what you have found. This is not a toy or something you treat as safe regardless unless told otherwise by experts.

Answer 7

i would suggest that you take it to your local police department for deactivation (unless it has a hole in the side of the shell casing // and even with that you may have an explosive shell it would still be wise to have an expert to look at it -- it may save you a lot of heartache or pain)
these rounds are very VERY powerful and if you have one that is still intact then you have what would be called an explosive device and the police would take care of it with the care that it needs -- just call ahead and make sure they know what you are doing and they will do the rest

Answer 8

20mm is one of the calibers that the Germans used in WWD in their auto machine guns. the gold is not real gold, but copper plated.
it isn't valued $2500 like that other guy said. hes an idiot.
idk the real value if it is all rusted probably not much but if its in good condition than take it to a gunsmith and ask him/her.

Answer 9

Between $2500 to $2750 at any firearms store. Just bring it in.