oneshot1979

Lad at work has offered to bring in his ultrasonic cleaner, will post some pics after trying that.

Local to me is an area that was used by the British and American forces to prepare for D-Day, no big secret, but there have always been tales of equipment left behind being buried or blown up before they left, grand tales handed down by the farmers and hands that worked the area to accompany trinkets on mantelpieces, all officially denied of course. Many years ago the area was designated as a SSSI, ANOB and a UNESCO heritage area, all put in place to preserve the rare flora, fauna and natural dunescape..... Pffft. In reality there's stuff under those dunes unaccounted for and they don't want anybody digging around for it. When I was a kid there was one dune that stood twice the height of all the others, completely out of place with the topography, over the years nature has worked away and eroded said dune. A few weeks ago out with the dogs and kids I was walking through the valley that wind and rain has carved through the centre of the dune and explaining to the kids how high it used to be, 60ft on top of us if not more, and as they were scampering around with the dogs I notice what looked like an area of charcoal clinker, cursing the vermin that have fires amongst the dunes I went to check for glass and metal in the debris but upon further inspection I realised I was stood in an area strewn with corroded bullet heads, I had a bit of scratch round and collect what you see in the photo, including some M1 expendable link a little ways off. Now my wife thinks I'm potty but I'm quite exited by this because bullets don't blow around in the wind, they tend to stay where the land, that being the case there is no.30cal on earth that could've pushed these bullets through the dune to where I found them, the dune had to have been pushed up and formed at a later date. More proof that the dunes are not all naturally formed and there has definitely been human activity/interference with the landscape. On a side note the other thing is these rounds where fired in practice by the lads that went on to storm Normandy, elsewhere in the area are the remains of three mock up concrete landing craft that these lads practiced in, when you stand at the back staring out of the ramp you can't help but feel something, I'll never know who fired these rounds, whether they made it through the war or not, but I have them all the same and I'll use them to richen the stories I tell to those that'll listen so that they may never be forgotten.........

Though about that but wasn't sure which solution would be required to preserve the copper and lead whilst dissolving the corrosion. It would definitely work for the few pieces of expendable link that I've found though.

Looking for clever ideas and advice on how I can remove this heavy encrustation, sympathetically if possible, on some 80+ year old bullet heads.

Local hydraulic pipe supplier, Pirtek, Pearsons, etc. They should have HST, hydraulic seamless tube, pick size with internal bore to suit, if you're lucky they may even have offcuts rather than a full length.

Most of the naval kit I've searched doesn't come up as 115mm and anything close to it is listed as a "bagged charge" as in no shell casing. Anything I've found in 115mm or 4 1/2" has a much, much shorter case length. Thought this would be an easy ID but feeling stumped at the moment.

Pictures added, still no further forward myself.......

Already found that link thank you, cannot find anything that matches up, I'll add some photos shortly, the primer hole is very distinctive, had someone else suggest it may be a naval shell?

Anybody any good with WW1 shell Identification ?. Large piece, 127mm across the rim, 115mm across the neck, 635mm ? In length. Stamped: Berndorf 166a 1915 Had a good Google myself but not coming up with any matches. Over to you.....

Of no real help I'm afraid but I remembered this tale from a couple local maids about buying a bucket....... https://youtu.be/65_3EIMq_78

The trouble with cat litter is there are different kinds, higher grade products tend to be a sort of pumice like material, which is as good as any oil spill granule, the other end of the scale can be clay based, this will clump when wet, and worse, if used for oil spills with water and detergent will form a loam or batter that is akin to white wash. For simplicity I just suggested just don't use the stuff.

Tried and tested method, with stories to back it up..... Brake cleaner, full gallon can of it and proper absorbent spill dry granules, NOT cat litter. Saturate the stain with brake cleaner, this will break up the oil and lift it from the floor, keep the area wet with brake cleaner for a few minutes, it won't take much longer for it to dissolve the oil and mix together, cover with spill dry and allow to soak up solution, aggravate with a stiff brush once area is covered, for historic stains it may take two or three applications but you can attack it straight away once you've swept up the granules you've just used. I've done this on used engine oil stains, red diesel, EP90 (messy and miserable) all sorts. Never failed me yet.

I still have dad's, I lost him too early, cancer. When the FLO came to take his Mossberg we were still grieving, the loss still raw, I was in my teens and suddenly the man of the house, as I stood there in the kitchen handing it over to him I was on the verge of breaking, looking past him at my father's empty chair with his boots still tucked beneath it. I was losing another piece of him. It was the same FLO we'd always had, the same that had watched me as a boy proudly march out the station when it'd been confiscated before, the same man that had granted me my shotgun certificate once I'd come of age, he was kind, patient, waited for me to hand it over rather than reach out and take it, he checked it over, looked back up at me, back at the gun, looked at my mother, then left the kitchen, I watched him take it out to his car and then return with his case. Placing his case on the kitchen table he spoke "We have some paperwork to do young man" and started to lower himself into my dad's chair, he stopped himself short, stood upright again and moved to the other side of the table, "you'd better sit there from now on", settling him self down he proceeded to lay out his paperwork, "this is a receipt for the firearm young man, sign here" and I numbly I did so, "now let's go through this one together" and he slid a small sheaf of papers to me, "this will be your your first firearms application, and your awful young so we need to get it right"...... I had the same FLO for nearly twenty years before he retired yet I've never felt like I could thank him enough for the kindness he showed me, my young daughters are shooting now, one day they'll get to experience the Mossberg, one day it'll be theirs.

Oh man, how'd you manage to keep that on a shotgun cert for so long ?. Of the two guns I grew up with on the farm my favourite was my father's Mossberg, AKA The fox cannon. I remember the day of his first renewal visit since the changes imposed after Hungerford, the FLO informed him that it was now classed as a firearm and he would have to surrender it immediately, his options where to weld the mag in permanently, sell it or apply for his firearms license. Unwilling to butcher it, and reluctant to sell it he applied for his license and kept it. When we went to collect it from the local station he checked it over, removed and pocketed the mag and bolt then handed it to me, then with it propped over my shoulder (no slip) I was proudly marched back through town to the truck.

What model Case ?