Whats your best ground dug find, you found yourself

[bentley240]

Hi everyone, just a thought whats your favourite find that you have persoanlly found, military related, perhaps pop a picture up, I have dug some lovely stuff over the years, however when I try to show it off to friends and relatives there seems to be little or no interest whatsover, in fact sometimes I wonder if I am mad from the response or odd looks that i get, is it just me or do you guys feel like that sometimes ?
I am charging my batterys to get some pictures up shortly, just thought it may be an idea to keep strange people like me occupied as the nights draw in and the ground gets harder.
All the best, keep swinging low and slow, Andy.

[Zeller]

a quite rare austrian kappenabzeichen and a nice fascist youth medallion...

[Whitehunter]

pretty much every thing

[infin1ty92]

3 german helmets and a machine canon from a german airplane.

[banny]

Hi Bentley,
I know what you mean. I get quite excited when I unearth new items, but not many people show a lot of interest.

I live in Hong Kong, which only saw battle for a little over two weeks in '41. So compared to European battle sites its a minor skirmish.
However I have found a couple of interesting things in the hills.

5 x Japanese 75mm Mountain gun shells
25 x 37mm Japanese High Explosive shells
Some Shipping plugs for the fuses for the 37mm shells
Full Clip of Chinese made 7.92 Mauser Armour Piercing Bullets which the Japanese took when fighting through Canton.
Those are my favourite finds so far. I've also found some Japanese 6.5mm Ariska shells/ Bullets + .303's

There is a helmet and Kantana somewhere out there waiting for me! I do get a little jealous when I see some of you boys pulling out huge items, but it only goes to motivate me further to get out there looking. Only problem is 35C heat and 100% humidity soon quells ambition when your exposed on a hillside...... at least I don't have shells and bullets raining down on me, so can't complain.

[Steve T]

Banny

Welcome to the forum

I would love to see some pictures of your finds if you get a minute to post them.

Cheers

Steve T

PS I don't envy you digging in those conditions. Mind you....-2 degree's C, top layer of soil frozen solid and a howling gale ain't pleasant either

[banny]

Hey Boys,
Here are a couple of photos I have on my work computer, most of my collection is currently in storage while my new flat get renovated.

I've included the Japanese 75mm, as I found them, then a cleaned up shell. The 25x 37mm Japanese Shells, A Bamboo Pit Viper that I uncovered with my hands... luckily it didn't give me a kiss.
There is a full charger of Mauser 7.92 Armour piercing rounds.

Since me first post last week, I've been out again in the hills. Last Saturday I went out to investigate some suspected British/Canadian trenches that someone found. We found a few Japanese 6.5mm shells and other bits and pieces. However after about 30 mins of sweeping I got a hit and started digging. About 15 mins later (and about 3 pints of sweat) I uncovered a live Japanese T91 grenade.... pin pulled.
After I changed my undies I reported it about an hour later so that we could finish looking around. Luckily I took my time, but there was a second where I nearly shouted "Sod It" and went crashing in with the spade.... and I would have needed to have been mopped up. I can't emphasize enough how dangerous this hobby is, and anyone trying it must take extreme care.
Hope you enjoy

[Steve T]

Those finds are awesome ! Well......the shell casings at any rate.

That's one thing we don't have to contend with in England and Europe. Venomous things leaping out on us !

We too though, do have the same problems as you with live ordnance and you're right, it can be a dangerous hobby. But then again most hobbies have some danger attached to them.....parachuting, rock climbing, power boat racing, motorbike riding, knitting (those knitting needles are SHARP you know!).

Good luck with future hunts and keep us up to date with your finds. Japanese relics don't appear very often on the forum so you are very lucky !

Cheers

Steve T

[bikerboyzx6r]

Since buying a "proper" metal detector, I have only been out twice However, my first ever finds were WW2 dated & made me very happy

[operaman]

Hello all,I have been reading about the Treasure act of 1997 in the current issue of British Archaelogy,seems to me that the goverment is trying to collect everything.I understand that you must turn ove to the coroner everything one finds. Over here the coroner takes care of dead folks. Anyway are world war 1 and 2 relics called treasure? do you have to get a special permit to dig? Do you have to turn over everything that you find.I know if they find you metal decting on a Civil war site here the fines coud be huge.