Mystery Munition of the Month - December 2014

Admit it... we've all been there, digging around In the dirt with tools better suited to a flower garden than the red Georgia clay or hard pack you find yourself in now. You've dug it up and now it's yours, but what is it? Our first reaction is often 'what the hell is that?' followed soon after with 'is it even ordnance related?'

That's where our crew was once again and yes, I admit, not the first time for me (or anyone else being honest). It's in my hand 'cause there's obviously no explosive hazard, and the exam begins. Looks like cheap pot metal mostly but there are a couple steel bars too, plus a stainless steel plate on the base. Seems poor construction idea, what with dissimilar metals galvanic corrosion is assured and obvious (save the stainless plate). A couple through and through holes, a half round depression, and that's about all there is. First impression is manufacturing item or maybe vehicular... but being in the middle of a burn/demo area raises doubts in that realm.

And in the interest of full disclosure I must also admit I was 'one-upped', a Marine on the dig crew put forth type and function (good job Val D.!). That turned out to be completely accurate, missing only nomenclature. Not the first time I've had a Marine ID some odd item/part and where it came from... sharp troops!

Taking his info as a starting point the next step was a long and convoluted internet search. An image search using the pics was fruitless so it became a test of will, plodding along until a match was found. Must also give kudos to the inert-ordnance guys out there, some pretty good info, though not all 100% accurate, as with anything in our line of work... the idiom 'take it with a grain of salt' needs to be employed frequently!

And so.... what is it?

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