de-mill or practice holes

[dano1917]

Pictured is a practice m1917 n/A German egg grenade. there are 4 small holes bored spaced equally apart ABOVE the hand grip ring. I think these are holes bored for de-mill but may be drilled for practice purposes. what do you think? Dano

 

[staples57]

Hi Dano.
I would say that it was a practice grenade and not done as part of a DEWAT (deactivation or de-mill) process.
The Canadian military did the same thing with practice Mills bombs.
They drilled a series of holes in the grenade casting and then painted the grenade blue, white and orange with the word DUMMY in white.

Their DEWAT process was a little more extreme. They disassembled the Mills bombs completely and then crushed the castings (bodies).

Looks like you have a nice practice egg grenade.
...if I remember correctly, aren't most German practice grenades red in colour?

Cheers,
Brad

 

[dano1917]

Yes Brad, it is definately a practice egg and the holes are definately old. It is just that the majority of practice eggs had the holes bored below the grip ring. This is the second m1917 practice egg I have had with the holes above the grip ring so it makes sense that it is not a de-mill. Usually the de-mill holes are sloppy and un-uniform and such. Was kind of wondering of others in others collections and configuration of the practice holes? Guess I was kind of fishing on this one. Paint appears original so I guess it is your basic practice egg...Dano