Strange Ammo Find

[jkbrea]

I came across about a dozen rounds of "Cutter Mark 12 Mod 1". I looked it up and it's a minesweeping round. I don't know how it was used. They look like a short 45-70. Instead of a bullet, it looks like a melted metal sealed the top. The last photo is compared to a .44 Special.

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[Gunstore Commando]

Interesting find.

Could the slug be some kind of sintered metal? Would make sense given the application.

[GunnyMack]

Could it be what initiated the mine explosion? Ya know the pressure switch if you will? The melted metal plug and lacquered primer tells me they wanted it water proof.

[jkbrea]

Found this online....

"It looks like these devices are towed behind a mine-cutter, and when they hit the mooring cable of a mine, the cable is pulled into the end of a channel until it hits a pin that acts as a trigger for the firing mechanism. On firing, a cutter is driven through that cable against an anvil, whereupon the mine bobs to the surface, and it can be destroyed by small arms fire"

[Grizz]

https://engineeringtraining.tpub.com/14 ... s-164.html

another article about the cutter with a drawing

[Scott Tschirhart]

That’s really interesting!