MKII grenade help

[5thrangerson]

These are the 4 grenades I have that I think are WW2 grenades. I am reasonably sure that they are MKIIs but there are some differences that I am not sure of. Two are blue or were blue, that makes them a training grenade right? The one with remnants of blue has an open bottom with no threads. The blue one has a cork bottom. Both have an M10 fuse although one is rusty enough it is tough to read. The third one has no paint that is left or was not painted and has a solid bottom. M10A2 fuze and has an AF mark on one side and an H on the opposite side. The last one is slightly different in shape, and appears to have been perhaps a relic that had a coat OD put on it at some time. It appears solid bottomed but is recessed. The top is threaded but the M10 fuzes are too big to fit. Is this a pre WW2 grenade? It doesn't appear to me to be a MKI compared to the photos I have looked at.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

Dave

 

[5thrangerson]

[5thrangerson]

 

[5thrangerson]

 

[5thrangerson]

 

 

I have more photos if they will help. Thanks again.

[268th C.A.]

they all look good to me.....WW2

[CUBUSMC]

Nice Grenades. I think you have it right, all are MKIIs. The one with the rounded shoulders is an early MKII. This type came out end of or just post WWI. It appears to have a cork pushed up in the bottom? These were often used as training grenades in later years. Very common to see these painted blue. The all blue MKII was made to be a training grenade. The other one with the hole in the bottom was either made to be a training grenade or more realistically had the bottom plug removed or drilled out to make it a training grenade. The solid bottom is a good representative example of a later WWII MKII. I read that they started making the solid bottom grenades in 1943 and after. Again, nice grenades - jeff

[Costa]

the one with the AF marking on the body is a ww2. made by AMERICAN FIREWORKS.

[rldarmstr]

I would bet that the bottom of the round shouldered one is the remains of a lead screw plug. As globbed up as it is why not scratch a small part of the paint away to see if its cork or lead? You could also run a drill through the throat and turn with your fingers. Cork or lead both would show easily enough with finger turning.

 

I don't understand the difference in the top threaded hole. All the round shouldered grenades I have, have the same thread as any other, WWII, inter war, or late WWI grenade.

 

MKI's by the way only have four segments vertically. It's definitely not a MKI.

 

You've actually tried an M10 fuze on this grenade?

[5thrangerson]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried an M10 fuze and it wouldn't even start to thread. Should I leave it as is or maybe try and clean up some of the gunk on it and see what is underneath?

[rldarmstr]

Could it be that there is so much paint slopped around the threads that is preventing the fuze bouchon from starting?

 

I know some collectors may cringe at this but first off it's not a very attractive grenade body in it's present state. I don't believe the OD paint we see is military; i.e., probably a repaint. If it were mine I would strip it down to bare metal and find out all I could about it. You may find additional markings now hidden by all that paint. You may find that the base has wood putty under that paint or some other foreign matter. You may also find that you can start a fuze head in the top threads without all that paint.

 

Some things are best left in their 'as found' condition. This body, in my opinion, has been previously messed with so there is little harm in further investigation.

 

They restore cars, fine paintings, houses, rare firearms, toys, books, etc. I see nothing wrong with doing that with things like grenades as long as it's done properly.

 

As a point of reference, that small picture of a round shouldered grenade in my previous post, which I believe is very close if not identical to yours, came to me that way. It does not appear to have ever been painted. The brown color is the color of the metal, not paint.

[5thrangerson]

I'll give that a try when I get home. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

[5thrangerson]

I stripped the gunky grenade shown above and was not getting much off but the really loose stuff. Had a friend that blasted it with a bead blaster and this is the result. M10 fuse will now fit just fine. I plan on repainting this for display- should it be OD or yellow? Also there appears to be an inverted T or maybe an F on the body as best I can make out. Any ideas on a maker?

[5thrangerson]

 

Thanks for the assistance with these. One other question for any grenades-why the threaded bottoms?

[rldarmstr]

That's the way the explosive was put into the body. "Fill Hole" Later they filled through the neck and eliminated the threaded fill hole in the bottom.

[rldarmstr]

You have a very early MKII body, It appears to me to be the first type MKII. Look at the following link for more information on the early post WWI versions.

 

http://www.inert-ord.net/usa03a/usa2/index.html

 

You will also note that the early versions used the cutback/short spoon fuse. This site also shows you the bottom file hole plugged with a slotted lead screw.