TOPIC:

I have part of a shell fired at the Boer lines during the above engagement. The brass top of the shell is dated 12/99 followed by R (separated by the arrow symbol) l IV. Although damaged, it appears to be roughly 3 inches in diameter.
I would any suggestions as to the type of shell.

It's the nose cone of a 15 pr shrapnel shell, the commonest shell of the war. Part of the fuze and the bell washer have come off.

As Rob states, this a nose cone of a 15-pdr BL shrapnel shell, retaining the base of a T&P fuze of the type "Time and Percussion No 56, Mark IV" (Treatise on Ammunition 1902, p. 172).

MARKINGS: 12/99 [date of manufacture] "R /|\ L" [Royal Laboratory], "IV" [Mk IV]

Sometimes there is a batch number after the Royal Laboratory mark. For example "178" would indicate that the fuze was amongst the 178th thousand manufactured.




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