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Where does inert grenades come from ?

Nismosonic

Nismosonic

Well-Known Member
Whilst reading through a few of the recent posts (especially mills related ones) i started wondering how, and where the inert grenades come from? Surely they didnt find there way into private hands by legal means! at some time or another they have been taken home as a momento. usually the enemy take home kit belonging to the opposing army, so why is there so many Mills grenades in private hands ? could it be that they were never filled to begin with ? (as per latest batch available on SA that dont have filler plug screws) at the end of the day a grenade is but a lump of cast iron without the filling, but why the largish amount of inert ones around? This doesnt apply only to grenades but other ordnance also. but is more understandable for fired cases etc, as these dont need to be inerted.
I was wondering what the security of ranges and going on leave was like during WW2 ? you cant even get an empty 5.56 case of a range these days, they have to all be counted out then back in. forgive my ramblings. :tinysmile_twink_t:
 
Some questions are best left unasked.

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!
...from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", (1962) John Ford
 
Inert Grenades and other stuff.

I have a No. 36 that is in poor condition that I am going to plant in the backyard in hopes that a grenade tree will grow. I will let you all know if I get lucky.

I think there are several places that inert grenades and other items came from. I am sure it has always been against the rules for personnel to remove any ordnance from ranges during training, although this certainly still happens.

I think that during the war years there may have been an opportunity for personnel to take grenade bodies and such from the factory during manufacturing. It seems a large number of Chatham grenades are recovered in Ontario. There are also areas that were once used for training that are now private or public land and items resurface in these areas. I was recently in an area where during excavation of a pond, 20 practice bombs were dug up.

Also the demil processes have changed. Years back ammunition items that had be certified free from explosives could be sold off as scrap steel (in Canada). Some of these items piled up in scrap yards and many were in good condition with markings, etc. Some of these certainly made there way outside of the scrap yard. I wonder how many No. 36 grenade bodies sat piled in the scrap yard. There have been numerous scrap yard clean ups in recent years where the military has had to go back and reprocess all of the material to verify its inert status and reclaim it for future demilitarization. Unfortunately, this requirement stems from accidents. Today, material cannot be sold as scrap until it is mutilated and is no longer usuable, i.e. crush cartridge cases, cut projectiles in half, etc.
 
He he!

A Grenade Fairy leaves them under my pillow every night. Safe, empty and always in mint condition. ........

Jim
JapaneseOrdnance(at)yahoo.com


Sorry for being ridiculous....!


As a teenager Santa would sometimes leave nazi helmets and US Army surplus pineapple grenades under the Christmas tree.........(I kid you not....)
 
The two Mills grenades I have (inert) came from former Danish Resistance members, whether these guys made them inert or someone else is an open question. Anyway I know where they came from, they have a "pedigree"! Say no more.............
 
I was involved in some detection equipment trials last year when supposedly "FFE" and totally inert grenade and mine bodies were "found". Even microscopic residual traces of previous fillings may cause problems in the future.
 
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