Description
105mm M60 Inert Loaded Smoke/Chemical Howitzer Projectile with Dummy M59 Fuze
Item Overview
This 105mm M60 smoke/chemical projectile has a steel body stamped 1942 and is offered with inert loading and a fitted PD M59 dummy fuze. Its steel identification stamps and white painted lettering record details about the body and its inert configuration. The M60 design served both smoke and chemical ammunition roles in U.S. howitzers. This example combines a wartime projectile body, a marked training fuze, and painted inert-loading identification.
Identification and Features
The steel stamps identify the projectile's caliber, model, year, and lot. Its painted lettering records an inert-loaded configuration and mentions M564. The fuze currently fitted is identified by its own M59 stamp. These two fuze designations are preserved separately below, along with the additional body codes.
- Caliber and projectile model: 105mm M60
- Loading: inert
- Steel stamp above the drive band: LOT 22093-6, JBBC, 105MM M60 1942.
- Additional steel stamp above that marking: KJLB378
- Fitted fuze: PD M59 dummy fuze
- Fuze stamp: 4-43- AOP-241, FUZE PD M59
- White lettering above the drive band: INERT LOADED 105MM W/INERT FUZE M564
- White lettering below the drive band: R M.A. 500-2
- M59 fuze model reference: DODIC N205
Function and Contents
Service M60 projectiles carried smoke-producing material or a chemical filling, depending on the version. White phosphorus, identified as WP, and FS smoke loadings appear in wartime ammunition records. Smoke rounds helped screen movement and make target areas visible. Chemical versions included mustard-agent loadings, recorded under codes such as H and HD. The drive band, also called the rotating band, engaged the gun barrel's rifling to give the projectile spin. This example contains inert loading and uses a dummy fuze for display or instruction.
Documented Applications
Wartime Army catalogs document M60 smoke ammunition for the 105mm M2, M2A1, M3, and M4 howitzers. The M3 was associated with airborne forces, while the M4 was fitted to howitzer-armed Sherman tanks. Chemical-loading applications were listed separately by ammunition type. Later Army references place the M60 family with the M101 and M101A1 towed howitzers, the M102, and the M52, M52A1, and M108 self-propelled howitzers. These are historical applications of the projectile family.
Product History
Government records trace the military requirement behind the M60 to 1933. The design carried the experimental designation T4E1 before it was standardized as M60 in 1940. That places its development before the United States entered World War II. The 1942 stamp on this body falls within the model's wartime production period. Army manuals continued to document M60 ammunition after the war. Later M60A1 and M60A2 smoke variants extended the family, while the original M60 designation remained in records for both smoke and chemical ammunition.
M59 Dummy Fuze and M564 Marking
The M59 was listed as a standard dummy fuze in the Army's 1944 ordnance catalog. PD means point detonating; the M59 is the dummy training member of that category. Army references identify it as a substitute that simulates service fuze families, including M48, M51, M557, and M572. M564 is a different design: a mechanical time and superquick fuze standardized in 1962. Its appearance in the painted body text connects that wording with a postwar fuze designation. The M59 stamp identifies the fuze presently fitted, and M564 is retained as a painted body reference.
Equipment History
The M60's parent equipment developed through several generations of U.S. 105mm howitzers. M2A1 production began in 1940, and the weapon became a mainstay of World War II field artillery. Rock Island Arsenal manufactured its carriage and recoil mechanism. The weapon later became known as the M101 and remained in American service through the Korean War and Vietnam. The lighter M102 entered production in 1964. Its design suited air transport and helicopter movement, helping artillery units move through terrain that challenged heavier towed equipment.
Weapon-System Background
Field artillery combined howitzers, trained crews, observers, and fire-control equipment. Batteries supported fighting units with fire against targets that were often beyond the gun crews' direct view. The 105mm class balanced useful firepower with mobility and served alongside heavier artillery. Its ammunition included high-explosive, smoke, and illumination types for different tasks. Model names and loading markings helped identify those types within the supply system. An M60 projectile belongs within this wider history of howitzer ammunition, crew training, and artillery support.
History of Use
The M60's smoke role is documented in World War II catalogs and later Army ammunition manuals, which describe screening and spotting uses. Its chemical variants also have a long record of stockpile storage. A 2001 National Academies report specifically listed M60 mustard-filled ammunition at Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, showing that this wartime design remained in stored inventories decades later. Dummy fuzes served ammunition-handling instruction, while inert-loading markings identified material prepared without a live filling.
Condition
Offered as an inert-loaded steel projectile with its fitted M59 dummy fuze. The body carries stamped identification and white painted lettering above and below the drive band.
Ideal For
This M60 suits a collection focused on U.S. artillery ammunition, wartime manufacturing dates, or military training equipment. Its body stamps and painted inert-loading text make it useful for comparing different kinds of ordnance identification. The combination of a dated military projectile body and a dummy fuze also suits an exhibit explaining ammunition recognition and the history of smoke and chemical projectile designs.
- U.S. artillery and militaria collections
- World War II and Cold War displays
- 105mm howitzer ammunition exhibits
- Dummy fuze and training equipment collections
- Studies of ordnance stamps and painted markings
Approx length 20", Approx width 5", Approx height 5", Approx weight 32.5lbs.
Pictures are stock images of our inventory. Unless otherwise noted, you will not be receiving the exact item shown in the pictures. The pictures are representative of the item’s general condition. The item you receive might be slightly better, or worse, condition than was shown in the pictures.
Please visit our page about order lead times here: Order Lead Times.