Note that it is a Drill Hand rather than Rifle grenade and that it has a striker lever retaining wire through the lugs.
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Mills no5, 23 and 36, all marks.
- Thread starter Nismosonic
- Start date
Note that it is a Drill Hand rather than Rifle grenade and that it has a striker lever retaining wire through the lugs.
a Har i wondered why those holes were there,,,,,,,
I have seen a few over the years and they all were fitted with MkI base plugs.
Fragman,
The Drill notation was brought in in 1941 for these grenades to distinguish them from grenades with small charges which retained Practice in the nomenclature. As you speculate there was a
Grenade, Hand, Drill, No 36M, Mark II/L/ and a
Grenade, Hand, Rifle, No 36M, Mark II/L/
Does the Mk2 Rifle grenade also have the steel wire for retaining the lever, the reason i ask is i have 17 practice No36m but only one with the holes drilled for the wire,,,,,, Dave
Dave, Fragman's drawing does not seem to be dated but I bet it's post WW2, possibly 1960's. It could be the extra wire was a late modification. It's also a Booth McDonald so the change could have taken place at any date.
My earliest drilled No 36 body has 1918 cast in the front face. Obviously converted after WW1 from WW1 stocks.
John
My earliest drilled No 36 body has 1918 cast in the front face. Obviously converted after WW1 from WW1 stocks.
John
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Hi, the documents I have are undated and unfortunately I don't have the full set. However, when I got them I was told that they were issued (weekly I think) to active servicemen in WW2 to keep them advised of new items they may come across. They covered a wide range of items, not just ordnance.
The item and figure numbers seem to support what I've been told. Some of the one pagers I have are:
# fig. 381 (item 956) Italian HE Hand Grenade OTO Model 35
# fig. 387 (item 984) German 2.7 cm Pistol HE Cartridge
# fig. 498 (item 1222) Grenade drill Hand No36M MkII
# fig. 554 (item 1342) German 46mm & 61mm Hollow Charge Rifle Grenade Percussion Fuze
# fig.557 (item 1345) Japanese smoke Grenade WP
# fig. 558 (item 1346) Japanese 4cm Hollow Charge Rifle Grenade
All of the items I can date are from WW2
cheers
The item and figure numbers seem to support what I've been told. Some of the one pagers I have are:
# fig. 381 (item 956) Italian HE Hand Grenade OTO Model 35
# fig. 387 (item 984) German 2.7 cm Pistol HE Cartridge
# fig. 498 (item 1222) Grenade drill Hand No36M MkII
# fig. 554 (item 1342) German 46mm & 61mm Hollow Charge Rifle Grenade Percussion Fuze
# fig.557 (item 1345) Japanese smoke Grenade WP
# fig. 558 (item 1346) Japanese 4cm Hollow Charge Rifle Grenade
All of the items I can date are from WW2
cheers
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Fragman,
They look like they are from the Ammunition Bulletins which are available in the Downloads section.
Apologies that my post earlier should have read Grenade, Hand, Drill, No 36 Mark II /L/ and
Grenade, Rifle, Drill, No 36 Mark II /L/ (rather than Grenade, Hand, Rifle, No 36 Mark II /L/ )
I have seen a Hand Drill Mark II with the wire retainer with the lugs marked 'MK II' which dates it before 1945. Lugs were marked 'Mk 2' after that.
They look like they are from the Ammunition Bulletins which are available in the Downloads section.
Apologies that my post earlier should have read Grenade, Hand, Drill, No 36 Mark II /L/ and
Grenade, Rifle, Drill, No 36 Mark II /L/ (rather than Grenade, Hand, Rifle, No 36 Mark II /L/ )
I have seen a Hand Drill Mark II with the wire retainer with the lugs marked 'MK II' which dates it before 1945. Lugs were marked 'Mk 2' after that.
Hi. These Mills are often mistaken for Booth McDonald made ones. When I first started collecting I thought they were early BM's, as the lettering is smaller than the later ones. The MkII above was one of the first ones I got and the reason I thought it was early is that there was obviously no guide used for drilling the filling plug hole, as it is way off centre. A couple of years back I got a BMP stamped HE mills with the exact same lettering. I have seen one other HE one since. On close examination of the practice ones you can just make out where the P's have been drilled out with the front hole. Unfortunately I have no idea who the manufacturer BMP was. Cheers
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