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Appearance of a properly assembled No.16 grenade

B

berkmberk1

Member
Hello all!

I'm still trying to get the feel of this site, so please excuse me if this question has been asked/answered before. I acquired a No. 16 fragmentation grenade marked with the initialsw DL inside of a diamond, and under that is the date 1915. It has its base plug, and screwed into the top is what I gather was the fuze/detonator assembly. The assembly is still in one piece but hollow. I purchased a mockup fuze on eBay with the imitation fuze, cloth tapes, and metal cap. I want to install it to resemble its service appearance. The problem is, I've seen photos with the fuze extending out of the grenade, and I've seen photos with the fuze inserted all the way in, with only the cap and cloth tapes on the outside. What would be the appearance of a properly assembled grenade? Additionally, I've seen references to copper wires being attached to the fuze. Would I be correct in assuming this wire(s) were a sort of tie offf to secure the fuze from falling out? Could I assume the wire(s) were wrapped around the fuze at some point and then wrapped around and under the screw in detonator assembly?

I would appreciate any information you could provide. I will also try to post some pictures soon.
 
Thanks very much. I thought I'd seen the post on making your own........I just couldn't find it again! From the looks of the diagrams and pictures, the length of exposed fuze does, indeed, vary. I suppose it naturally would as different lots of fuze would vary someone what in burn time. Now I need to find one for my Model 17 Eierhandgranate!
 
mvc-001s.jpgmvc-002s.jpg

Here's a pic. of one correctly inserted . It would be pushed all the way in & secured under the screw in top with the attached wires so it was held firmly when struck with the brassard to ignite the match head on the end of the fuze . If it was sticking out , it would have flopped about making ignition difficult . The second pic. is a sectioned No 16 showing the segmented interior . The igniters shown are both originals . Hope this helps you . Mike .
 
Thanks for th pics. While doing some more reading about these devices and looking at the pictures, I notice my detonaor is still in one piece. I was mildly concerned that it might still be live! However, judicious use of a small wire revealed that it is entirely empty.......whew!
 
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