Help with info on my ww2 bullet

[ANGELFIRE1]

The story simply does not make any sense. As stated, it's the portion that comes out of the nasty end that does damage to you. The brass case which has a primer and gunpowder in it is ejected after been fired onto the floor.

 

If a whole live round found it's way into Grandpa's body, it's a certainty it did not arrive there after been fired.

 

Angel1

[mjw47]

Your theory makes sense but would be a one in a million thing to happen and doesnt go along with the story that he took a bullet for a friend.

I also dont think a live round would be left inside someone.

 

Who was it that gave your aunt the removed bullet? (to the op)

 

I agree it doesn't go along with the story but I can't really come up with another explanation as to how it got there.

 

Old soldiers have been known to embellish stories at times.

 

Maybe he was stood between the explosion and his mate, which would then make the 'took one for his mate' story be sort of true in a way. I agree it's an extremely unlikely scenario but weird things do happen.

 

As to leaving a live round inside someone, I suppose it would depend upon how risky the operation would be in comparison to the risk of the bullet 'firing' when held in a fixed position with little chance of disturbance.

 

Whatever happened I think it's got us all interested.

[yellowperil]

Very true about war stories but that aside it would have to hit him head on as it would have been fired and with such force that it embedded deep enough to be dangerous to remove.

Id think at the time it happened he would have had a wound open enough to remove it in the field pretty easily.

 

Would be nice to hear from the op about who she saw hand it to her aunt.

A very strange turn of events if everyone is on the level.

[cgksheff]

It is not unheard of.

In this case, the live round had been part of the "shrapnel" in a "home-made" bomb.

 

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/63115/F

[Halibut]

As others have said the round described in the OP is an unfired round and thus highly unlikely to have ended up inside a person.

[harvey19]

It could be a projectile reinserted in a spent case or a live round.

[ronthenekred]

Sadly, my Grandad died a few weeks ago and so i inherited his bullet. I call it his bullet because my Grandad was a soldier in ww2. He jumped in front of his friend to save him from the bullet and ended up getting shot himself! The bullet obviously didnt kill my Grandad but the bullet could not be removed. He was told that if it was removed, it would leave my Grandad paralised.

 

So, the bullet remained for his entire life after ww2 until it had to be removed for his cremation.

 

Now I know nothing about bullets and guns and a search on google found not much so im wondering if anyone would be able to help on as much information about the bullet as possible please.

 

Its a gold coloured (brass) casing with a silver metal rounded end. I`m assuming the brass bit is the casing and the silver bit the actual bulllet? But again, I have no idea! it is stamped SAKO LUGER 9MM PB.Any help most appreciated.

 

 

 

Maybe you Granddad was telling porkies about the "jumping in front of the bullet"? Sounds more likely and feasible that he'd seen no action and picked a bullet up and surrounded it with a story. Did he receive any honour for his heroic action?

 

---------- Post added 03-07-2014 at 10:16 ----------

 

It could be a projectile reinserted in a spent case or a live round.

 

 

After it was removed only a few weeks ago prior to cremation? The op would know this.

[L00b]

OP, I suggest you have a read of this (pdf)

 

It is unlikely, but not impossible, for the base of the bullet (as distinct from the casing) to have been stamped. I've never seen it on 9mm PB rounds, but have on 7.92x57 Mauser rounds (although markings nowhere near as long/extensive as the OP's full "SARKO LUGER 9mm PB").

 

OP, does your bullet look like this at the bottom? (that's a casing bottom, meaning it would be a full round, so the next important bit would be to find out whether it's live or not - if live, it can be lethal, and is definitely prohibited).

[AM_MUA]

OP, I suggest you have a read of this (pdf)

 

It is unlikely, but not impossible, for the base of the bullet (as distinct from the casing) to have been stamped. I've never seen it on 9mm PB rounds, but have on 7.92x57 Mauser rounds (although markings nowhere near as long/extensive as the OP's full "SARKO LUGER 9mm PB").

 

OP, does your bullet look like this at the bottom? (that's a casing bottom, meaning it would be a full round, so the next important bit would be to find out whether it's live or not - if live, it can be lethal, and is definitely prohibited).

 

yes it looks like this at the bottom! exactly!

 

---------- Post added 03-07-2014 at 13:10 ----------

 

I have read all your replies and to be honest, im also baffled! I have no idea how it got there but it got there.

It was handed to my aunt at the funeral home. I was waiting in the family area at John Fairest at Wadsley Bridge when she came back into the room after talks with the funeral director holding this bullet that was in a small glass Jar. she said...(with the funeral directer behind her) "this had to be removed before the cremation".

 

She handed it to me along with the story behind it. My mum clarified the story also, word by word!

 

But how could a bullet enter my grandads body without it being shot from a gun? And to do so much damage that it couldnt be removed? I have talked to my mum about it but she is 1000% sure that this story is true and got quite upset by me suggesting otherwise.

 

As for a medal of some sort for his bravery....he had many medals that was passed down to my mum, although im not entirely sure which each was for.

 

Sorry for being so vague on the answers but im just as confused

 

---------- Post added 03-07-2014 at 13:14 ----------

 

OP, I suggest you have a read of this (pdf)

 

It is unlikely, but not impossible, for the base of the bullet (as distinct from the casing) to have been stamped. I've never seen it on 9mm PB rounds, but have on 7.92x57 Mauser rounds (although markings nowhere near as long/extensive as the OP's full "SARKO LUGER 9mm PB").

 

OP, does your bullet look like this at the bottom? (that's a casing bottom, meaning it would be a full round, so the next important bit would be to find out whether it's live or not - if live, it can be lethal, and is definitely prohibited).

 

What do you mean by lethal....can it explode? i really think it should be removed from my house in this case. Where do i take it, what would i do with it?

[L00b]

What do you mean by lethal....can it explode? i really think it should be removed from my house in this case. Where do i take it, what would i do with it?

I doubt that it would "explode", but it could be accidentally "fired" if the casing still contains the primer and powder, with the bullet off on its merry way, if someone faffed around with it in stupid enough ways. Wherever the bullet ends up is where the (potentially-) "lethal" bit is relevant.

 

It's not because it's 70-odd years old that it's not dangerous anymore, you'd be surprised how long the "sell by date" of live ordnance can prove to be. I come from a region of France where the "Iron Harvest" has been ongoing for over 100 years now, and will likely still go on for decades yet, wherein amateurs and professional BDT experts are accidentally killed nearly every year (did a bit of my national service with them, 2 of guys I was with at the time have since been killed in service), so this is a sensitive subject I must confess.

 

As for where to take it, over here I'm not sure at all, is this sort of stuff to do with Civil Security in the UK?

 

Common sense suggests a call to SYP about it, with a request for their firearms team to come check it, but better have a lot of details at hand about how you came to be in its possession.

 

Whatever you do, (i) put it out of reach of children/the curious right away and (ii) do not fiddle with it/try to disassemble it (or let anybody else have a go). It's safe enough left on its own, until a trained specialist comes and checks whether it's live or not.

 

EDIT - just as an addendum, the Funeral Director saying that they "had to remove it before cremation" tells me that he was afraid the round might go off during the cremation itself. So that, in and of itself, would strongly suggest to me that it is a full round indeed. Why the FD did not pass it to SYP or make enquiries, and just passed it on, I have no idea.