head stamp help ?

[jayh]

i have tried unsuccesfully to get a decent picture of a few cartridges i picked up at the local car boot today .
The two 40 mm cartridges are both fairly straight forward with the stamps

40mm
lot 88
and the maker ( i think) RM/C
then the broad arrow then 1943


however the 18pounder cartridge i bought is puzzling me a little more ! i will try to write the stamps out as they appear on the head.!


18Pr
II

LOT 843 ALCO
^
C F/16
^
S
F




The ^symbol = the crows foot
sorry if this is a bit crap but my bloody camera is crap at close ups even on macro!
AlCO .....american locomotive company? what year is the case? any ideas cheers jay

[Steve T]

Jayh

Nice finds. The 40mm are fairly obvious, the 18pdr less so. I believe your date on these would be the '16' making it WW1. The headstamps on the bottom of big shell casings are very confusing as the majority are check marks and inspection marks, nothing to do with the size or date of the shell itself. I've attached a couple of pics from a book I have to help you out.

Cheers

Steve T