wandering the battlefields

During the last years I went to see the old ww1 front line in the Carpathians and Marasesti and I have discovered a lot of pieces of history, some of them in quite good condition despite the weather, the ploughing of the fields and almost 90 years. People should not forget their heroes who fought believing. Friends or foes.
All of these pieces were found on the ground.


One k98 mauser 8mm cartridge case, on the alpine front.

A lot of k98 8mm cartridge cases on the Olt valley.

One m95 steyr 8mm case from Susita valley

One mauser and one moisin-nagant(?) from Susita valley

Hello where did you find them? Can you tell me some villages near this area because I like very much to go relic hunting. I this all you have found?

Best regards Claudiu

Hello Claudiu,
this summer I went to Marasesti to visit the mausoleum. After that I went, by foot, on the nearby ploughed fields and also on the Susita river bed. I found a lot of spent cartridges but I left them as they were. I also found a base part of a fuze. I will post a picture with it.
Try also going around Letca Veche village (on the corn fields or in the woods).
I am going to post photos with pieces from my collection .

ANDI

Nice topic!
But verry strange, after 90 years the pices are still on the surface of the soil

This post has been edited by cipiamon on October 19, 2005 09:21 am

Years ago i went with my grandparents to Vatra Dornei and i did some hiking in the nearby mountains (Suhard). On a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, the WW1 trenches were still clearly visible, on several lines.

Where is that place you found the cartridges on the Olt valley?

Robesti village, is the place.I went on the neighbouring hills and I recognised the roumanian front (covered trenches) where I found some m93 mannlicher spent cartridges. On the other side of the river Olt I fond those mauser cases.
Apparently they were washed up by the heavy rain.
ANDI

Nice cartridges. Especially the 7,92 and 7,62 cartridge did you find them in the same place?

1.If you want to clean them you can put them in vinegar over the night, then scrape them clean with an wire sponge (used for cleaning dishes), after that wash them with water but do not let them to dry (otherwise there will appear darker spots) wipe them with an cloth.

2.Be aware that in the battle fields of the two world wars you can still find un-exploded munitions: mines, grenades, shells, mortar shells, etc. DON’T TOUCH THEM call the police to take care of them, after over 60 years in the ground they are very dangerous.

3.Anyhow I think that a rifle or a pistol complete cartridges are ok to be kept, especially if they are not to badly corroded, this is my opinion and it should not be follow by any body else. But keep them away of fire!

Mihnea, what is vinegar?

Even thouse in the picture are not harmless, in the second photo i can see un-fired cartridge case

In Rumanian vinegar is 'otzet'.

I think the unfired cartridges are safe, unless you hit them with a hard object or throw them in fire.

Gen. Dénes

Vinegar is "otet" in Romanian.

Here are two cleaned cartridges of 7,92 Mauser 98k/ZB and 7,62 Mosin Nagant. I cleaned them both.


The cleaning of the bullets from this MG belt took me two days. They are training rounds, the bullets are made of wood, and still had the gun powder inside when I bought them, now most of them are "clean" inside .

This is the first time my PC loads up this picture, probably an error. So the cartridge case seems to be from the Mosin-Nagant rifle it is but very oxidized.

Mihnea, trust me, it is a m93 steyr cartridge. I have found several pieces like this and I am sure about it's origin. I have also checked on the Internet.
Those two cartridges were not found togheter, actually, 20meters apart. I have put them close togheter just for the photo.
I also have other photos with relics. I will post them tomorrow.
ANDI

This post has been edited by ANDI on October 19, 2005 04:39 pm

It's more probably a 8x50 Steyr case then a 7,62x54 Mosin. Both cases are rimmed, but the shorter neck is for 8x50. Compare with your Mosin blank case, Mihnea.

OK I get the idea I was just guessing from a picture of an oxidized case, and I also noticed that the rim of the 7,62 case is thinner.

PS ANDI I think you miss written in your last post m93 instead of m95.

Robesti village is near Marasesti?