Possible WW1 Shell

[Gildwiller1918]

Hello everyone, I am looking for some help in ID'ing this shell, I believe it's WW1, possibly Austrian, judging by the manufacture. No visible markings either. Its roughly 250 MM long by 110 mm wide. It is not aerodynamic enough, nor has a driving band to be used from a traditional artillery barrel. I was thinking maybe trench mortar, or grenade thrower...it has a hole in the base, don't know the purpose, possibly a plug point for filling or for a fin type stabilizer? I have been searching the internet with no success, thanks in advance.

[Fritz]

Haven't seen anything like this before, would not be for a rifled barrel. Because of the casting (you can see the centre seam of the mould) and the pineapple shape like a handgrenade, I would tend to think it was perhaps British or French, possibly some sort of trench mortar, with a Stiel or shaft attached. Possibly even older than WW1 ?

Here is a German WW1 example I found, but not quite comparable.

British 2 inch trench mortarA French example

The Minenwerfer in various calibres was the most usual German trench artillery and used a large calibre basic shell.

 

à propos shells, here is an interesting article about 2 schoolboys, who wanted to bring back two WW1 shells from France as souvenirs:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601089/How-did-two-WWI-artillery-shells-Heathrow-Schoolboys-souvenirs-stopped-got-US.html

 

[Gildwiller1918]

I remember hearing about that...traveling with munitions, inert or not can be a problem. I would not recommend it in today's climate. I the shell above is not for rifled barrel. There is a minenwerfer shell that is more rounded, similar to this, but not quite matching it. Yes, it may also be older, I have been scouring internet files with no success so far. It is also too heavy for a pneumatic weapon, so trench mortar or mine thrower of some type possibly...it is quite heavy, so not ideal for aerial bomb or anti-armor grenade either. 

[Gildwiller1918]

I found this just a moment ago...it meets the profile of the device above....with the blunt rounded end having an opening. The projectiles were loaded into the mortar through the muzzle, slowly lowered into the tube, then fired. Still working on getting details...however these seemed to be smooth bodied.

[Gildwiller1918]

Here are some versions of the projectiles listed above. Although the the one I have is serrated it looks very similar to these types. The search continues....