The nickel-coated brass casing of what looks to be a 7.7 cm shell is stamped by the well-known German munitions manufacturer PATRONENFABRIK KARLSRUHE 1904 and has been compressed from its original height down to about 5 cm. The casing is drilled and threaded for a 1 cm primer. It is fitted out with a removable ashtray. The photos show the shape and the markings (to highlight the markings, I edited the photo to reduce the reflection from the highly polished base) I know similar items have been in past forums and hope that the experts can (a) provide me the nomenclature of this particular shell and (b) explain whether such precise compression was achieved in or outside of the Patronenfabrik factory.

Click to enlarge the picture