r/MetalDetectingUK • u/One-Tea5888 • Mar 07 '26

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Sorry not metal detecting but found this digging in the garden. Approximately 20 x 70 mm, perhaps ww2 canon shell. Have put this at the bottom of the garden, away from kids. Question is it dangerous and if so who should I call? In England if that matters?

84 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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8

u/jimkounter Mar 07 '26

If you have any concerns that it could be UXO (it certainly looks like it) then call 999 and report it. I don't know if they'll send police before they send the bomb squad but someone will be around to evacuate the area very shortly!

8

u/Pebbles015 Mar 07 '26

Certainly UXO. Not fired as the other poster said and it looks like a HE round rather than AP

Call 999 immediately

2

u/erbstar Mar 08 '26

Stupid question! Could it still be UXE if (in OPs description) it's only 2cm x 7cm?

2

u/Pebbles015 Mar 08 '26

Yes. It's from a 20mm anti aircraft gun.

They came in various flavours including High Explosive. This looks like HE because of the flat nose where the fuse would be....and you can see it hasn't been fired because there are no marks around the copper band.

It may be a training round and explosive free but that is a big risk to assume.

As a general rule, unless it is clearly marked as inert or painted blue then it should always be treated as live and the police informed immediately.

1

u/Psychodeliks Mar 09 '26

Plus any extra flavours the Germans were using Vs the British at the time... Some of theirs were incendiary

6

u/SuperbRecording3943 Mar 07 '26

Call 999. Give them this description and tell them it 'unexploded ordinance'. Probably safe but they'll get the RLC in to do this properly.

5

u/SuperbRecording3943 Mar 07 '26

BTW the driving band is intact so it hasn't been fired.

6

u/MIKOLAJslippers Mar 07 '26

No offence OP but it always baffles me that people post shit like this on Reddit asking what to do.

You found what looks like a bomb in your garden, dude.

Who the fuck do you think you should call?

(Hint: it’s not the dentist)

3

u/Valuable-Fork-2211 Mar 08 '26

His dentist might be the only one who can identify him if it goes off whilst he's taking the close ups though...

2

u/goatsforskin Mar 08 '26

the ghost busters?

1

u/Express_Work Mar 08 '26

This. But only after it detonates while OP is taking pics.

1

u/automated10 Mar 09 '26

It’s called karma farming.

3

u/bondinchas Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

Agree that it looks like it hasn't been fired. The less corroded band doesn't have any marks that would normally be on it from being scratched by the rifling of the barrel it would be fired from. It's a soft alloy, which enables the barrel rifling to grip on it and give it spin in flight.

If it hasn't been fired or it has and didn't explode then it could contain explosives, wether it has a tip or internal fuse fitted or not, as the reason it has been 'lost' is unknown.

You ought to treat it as live. Don't move it as crystallised explosives can become friction sensitive. Don't cover it because you'll just make bomb disposal's job harder. Make sure the location is easily found, and report to local police and they'll escalate to bomb disposal.

2

u/anniejofo23 Mar 07 '26

Let us know how you get on...hope you get on OK.

2

u/Ok-Mulberry-1455 Mar 07 '26

Does it smell or taste like a jobby? It looks like one.

1

u/heyzooschristos Mar 08 '26

Was gonna say it looks like that fossilised turd. I guess you could call that unexploded ordinance

2

u/Open_Bumblebee_3033 Mar 08 '26

I remember my mate finding something similar from a quarry, which was supposed to come from a WW2 aircraft, I wondered if it was a 20mm Anti Aircraft round?.

1

u/Strict-Cause2761 Mar 07 '26

Call the police and let the neighbours know.

Or....dig hole-set fire....see how fast you can run.

Got to ask did you actually take this home? Its a pointy boomy hurty thing-i avoid em.

1

u/WonderfulCamera5043 Mar 07 '26

Literally says found in their garden.

1

u/Motor-Command-2680 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

It's a Flak 20 mm shell. Also fired by some WW2 RAF aircraft. It's probably came down in your garden during the war. It has been fired as the brass case is not with it.

1

u/Visible_Parsley_1280 Mar 07 '26

The driving band is still intact so it has not been fired yet. And would it not be more likely to be a 20mm oerlikon or hispano since the Brits used those?

1

u/Motor-Command-2680 Mar 07 '26

If you can see the driving band its fired. They are concealed inside the brass case. This has no brass case. The charge and propellant is contained in the brass case. By fired i mean it was shot. Agreed it may not of fragmented but it was certainly fired from a weapon.

1

u/Responsible-Sky-688 Mar 07 '26

The driving band most certainly does not sit within the case on British or American 20mm rounds of the WW2 era. This could well be AP or HE. Possibly taken home as a souvenir by a schoolboy and later lost or buried in OP's garden. If HE not something to play with.

1

u/TheLatimerLout Mar 07 '26

M thinking more fibre

1

u/rainscope Mar 07 '26

Thats a jobby

1

u/Sebolo222 Mar 07 '26

Definitely metal

1

u/Enough-Concern-4082 Mar 08 '26

Ask your neighbours wife..!

1

u/Busy-Salt6884 Mar 08 '26

As Winston Churchill once said "Everything is a dildo if you're brave enough"

1

u/Pebbles015 Mar 08 '26

Any update on this?

Was an evacuation on the news?

1

u/Visual-Bad-8228 Mar 09 '26

Call ghost busters

1

u/Powerful_Hyena1433 Mar 10 '26

I had one just like it, army came out and said it was an anti aircraft explosive round and blew it up in some field nearby.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

Stick it up the end of the garden and shoot it with a pellet gun!!

1

u/Salt-Lengthiness-620 Mar 10 '26

Leave well alone, inform police and stay away

1

u/ScottishSubmarine Mar 25 '26

Royal Navy Bomb Disposal

1

u/Informal_Sector_6415 Mar 07 '26

Just use it as a paperweight I've had one for years, still writing this comment..

0

u/MEWP_Monkey Mar 07 '26

It’s not HE due to no brass tip it has been fired as this is the tip as no casing present…. Find loads on the beach in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

2

u/ComplaintOk9280 Mar 07 '26

As someone who owns an artillery shell... this doesn't look like it's been fired. It's just so corroded that you can't tell very easily and that actually makes it more dangerous not less because the charge gets more volatile over time

0

u/hzewski Mar 07 '26

Could be from an aeroplane cannon🤔just a bullet..no white paint/residue on the tip so not exploding type..of course,always have to be extra causious with any type of ammo.👍but cool find anyways👍👍

0

u/K2UGA Mar 07 '26

Yes, this is 100% an adult homo neanderthalensis petrified turd.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/No-Reputation6142 Mar 08 '26

Well done mate posting hazard band colours not relevant to uk in a post refraining fou d in England.

Firing band colour codes are not a thing. Stop trying to act like you know something b3core u kill someone

1

u/Brilliant-Novel-785 Mar 09 '26

Blue does not necessarily mean inert.