.50 Cal. shell?????

JIM STARK

Happy Easter all,
I've come into possession a strange (to me) .50 Cal shell.. no camera at this time, but it's shorter and fatter than a 50 BMG..Here's the measurements:
.500 bullet hole
2.88 OAL
.800 @ base (rim)
.550 @ neck
.740 @ bottom of shoulder
.670 @ extractor groove
Head stamp is LC59
Any educated guesses out there???
Thanks,
JIM...........

fordsix

50 cal spotter round for the recoilees 37mm

babun

Yeap.

charliemeyer007

The spotter rounds were used on other recoilless rifles. Most are somewhat impact mild explosive to mark the impact the strike with a flash and smoke. Be a good plan not to drop them.

Cheechako

Known as the .50 BAT (Battalion Anti Tank). It came in 2 versions, one with a conventional BMG primer, the other with a flash tube. The case is popular with 50 BMG Benchrest shooters. Here is a photo of one of the Benchrest cartridges along side a 30-06.

Ray

JIM STARK

Thanks guys...I knew ya'll could do it....
JIM...........

heavyiron

The .50 BAT was used on the M40 106mm (but is in fact 105mm) recoilless rifle. An M8 spotting rifle was mounted on the left side. The .50 BAT projectile had a similar trajectory to the 106mm projectile which when it struck the target gave off a puff of smoke. The idea was if the BAT struck the target the 106mm projectile would also hit the target. Therefore, the BAT was both an observation round plus a tracer round which was designated by a yellow over red color coded tip.

They were primarily used in Viet Nam and were replaced by the BGM-71 TOW. They were mounted on jeeps and a variety of other vehicles plus they could be moved by hand. What comes to my mind is the Ontos tank which mounted 6 M40 recoilless rifles. Four of the recoilless rifles had a coaxial .50 caliber spotting rifle attached.

Best,

Heavyiron

Cheechako

Here's an original Spotter-Tracer cartridge.