How Large are the shells fired out of modern day artillery?

Just to add to the above, most large artillery have been replaced by missiles. The 8" is generally the largest used.



When I was in the service the 105, 155 and sp 8 inch were in use.



The shells fired out of the cannons on battleships could weigh up to 1 1/2 tons. The last to see service was in Vietnam and is mothballed.



In the 1950s, the US Army had developed a new 280-mm cannon which could fire atomic shells whose destructive power was approximately equivalent to the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Because of the effectiveness of this weapon, it was considered an excellent means of forestalling a Soviet threat and strengthening US forces in the event of an invasion of Western Europe.



Five 280-mm gun battalions were assigned to USAREUR (United States Army Europe)and in turn to Seventh Army, during late 1953 and early 1954: Which at the time I was in elementary school for US personnel in Heidelberg, Germany. The weapon was retired in 1963 and is in the artillery museum at Ft Sill, OK.

How Large are the shells fired out of modern day artillery?
The most common are 105 and 155. Even some of the former soviet states and china are starting to use 155mm. Mortars are considered arty too and they are usually 60mm, 81mm and 120mm.
Reply:Western countries currently most often use 105mm, 155mm, and 203mm calibres, with 155mm being the most common. Russian, former Soviet client states, and Chinese forces use 122mm, 152mm, and 203mm calibres. These are all medium-to-large field guns and howitzers. If you include mortars in your definition of "artillery", you'll find calibres ranging from 60mm to 240mm (and possibly even larger). Projectile weights for any given calibre can vary quite a bit, depending on type (HE, smoke, submunition-dispensing, etc.). (There are lots more calibres than the ones i mentioned. Those are just the most common.)