INERT DEACTIVATED. Rare WW1 1918 Dated Unfired British 1 ½ Pounder COW Gun (Coventry Ordnance Works) (37 x 190) Practice Round.) - O 1704 INERT DEACTIVATED. Rare WW1 1918 Dated Unfired British 1 ½ Pounder COW Gun (Coventry Ordnance Works) (37 x 190) Practice Round.) - O 1704 Other Ammunition

INERT DEACTIVATED. This is a rare COW (Coventry Ordnance Works) 1½ pounder practice round for the Vickers 1 ½ pounder COW gun intended to arm aircraft. The gun was in service at the end of the First World War for a short time. The Basford National Ordnance Factory (Coventry Ordnance Works, Ltd.) took over production of the 1 ½ pounder COW gun in 1917 from the Coventry Ordnance Works and continued manufacture until its closure in March 1919. This weapon was originally developed and an aircraft mounted weapon firing a 37mm projectile and was in continuous development throughout WW1. The gun was loaded with a five-round cartridge clip and was ready to produce only as the First World War came to an end. The gun was only in service briefly, fitted to DH4 aircraft. The gun was tried post war in a number of different aircraft, mostly flying boats such as the Blackburn Perth, where it was seen as being effective against small vessels. During WW2, the gun again saw action in RAF airfield defence. The gun was used in the inter war period to arm mostly flying boats and was effective against small vessels. The gun held 5 rounds of ammunition in a feed clip. The gun was later resurrected during 1940 as an airfield defence weapon fitted on the back of an Armadillo truck intended to be mobile against an invasion. The gun was also issued to the Home Guard. The brass cartridge case is headstamped 1 1/2 Pr MK111 GUN V.S.M. (Vickers Son and Maxim) 1918 (date) CF (Cordite Full Charge) LOT 4 EU. The No5 Mk1 primer is dated 12/16 (December 1916) V.S.M. A (Vickers Son and Maxim) 1918 . The steel double copper driving banded practice projectile is stamped P (Practice) 1 1/2Pr M/K111 GUN I also C I (Cast Iron) BE-EA 9 18 (September 1918) together with various other inspection stamps. See Hogg, British Artillery Weapons and Ammunition 1914 – 1918 pages 26 - 27. The price includes UK delivery and no licence is required to possess his inert round in the UK if retained as part of a collection or displays. O 1704