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WWI British N3 MK1 rifle grenade

Gaby78

Gaby78

Member
Hi Friends,
My name is Gabriel, I am from Argentina. I want to be sincere with you, I have registered on this forum for MKI grenade the N3
I am looking for it to my props lightsaber Star Wars.

Perhaps many people think that this is a foolery, I will not get angry for it,
I want that you value that I am a collector just as you and that the value that I give it to my Items of collection is the same that you give to theirs.
For me it would be an honor to have inside my collection a piece as this one, this is a part of the history, and this represents many meanings.
Please you do not take my investigation in a bad way.

I have no knowledge about weapon and grenades , but always inside mine the curiosity and desire to learn and know how working
the things I think that for this I am my profession is engineer,I am aeronautical engineer,
in this case it would be an honor for me to be provided with the help of all of you.

I have realized the search for WWI British N3 MK1 rifle grenade or N3 MK2, impossible my friends!!!
I think that I can to make it a replica of this, I have a friend, he is a genius with lathe.
In the next post I will share with you the pics and info that I have obtained, to continue with you ... those who want to help me.

Really thanks for yours time and patience.
Gabriel.
PD.: I am sorry for my bad English, my lenguage is Spanish.:tinysmile_cry_t:
 
Hello Gabriel.
I have one in my collection in very good order and complete (inert obviously). They are very hard to come by now and don't come cheap either. I did read about them being used as the original lightsaber, but I think this is when there were many surplus available.
I am happy to provide you all the pics that you want and any measurements if it will help you. I admire any collector and enjoy looking through any great collections.
Let me know, I may not be able to provide all the details the same day as I work shift but will do my best to help you out as soon as I can.
Kind regards,
Rob
 
Dear Rob,
You are the lucky one to have this item, it is very difficult to find, congratulations and really I am grateful for your help.
Don't worry, you answer me when you can, a collector must have patience!!! hahahaha
I will be sharing with you the information that I have in the next days.
thank you again.
Gaby.
 
Well,
Today is a day not busy in my work, I going to used this in following my investigations

This is that I want to make:
http://www.partsofsw.com/bensab.htm

the majority of the parts are British, this is because the first movie was realized mostly in this country. In those days there was no the technology that exists today, today to realize the props is used lathe Control Numeric, and different technology. In 1976/77 the creators of the movie used pieces of rejected, you can see to make clik in the link of above.

Since you can imagine the most difficult part it is the grenade.
The used one was WWI British Rifle Grenade No.3 Mk.1:

greno3mk1.jpg



no3-detcap-sm.jpg



you can see also that some persons use to replace WWI British Rifle Grenade No.3 Mk.1 for No. 20 Mk. 1 Grenade:

gren1.jpg




I have seen many MK series and the No.3 MkII Grenade I like more than No.20 MKI grenade.

No.3 MkII Grenade:



11402a.jpg



I can see that the difference to simple sight is that the only difference between the mk1 an mk2 is where the brass base joins the grenade body, here I do my first question...
is this the only difference really?
are there any other difference between WWI British Rifle Grenade No.3 Mk.1 and the WWI British Rifle Grenade No.3 Mk.2?

Many thanks.
 
Hello,

The above pictures haven't come through on my PC.
Yes. The Mk2 is diferent only because of the base. It was changed to give better airflow to the wind vane. The No 20 is almost an identical shape to the No3 Mk2, but with a much simpler working, all of which is inside so wouldn't matter in this case.
 
I can see the pics now. Exactly right my friend, Mk1 and 2 differ by the shape of the brass base. The no20 in the last pic has no vane and no U clip to attach to the barell of the SMLE. Same frag body though
 
Really thanks my friend for your help.
I would like to learn about this, I am sorry for my ignorance =(

looks this pics,
this is the grenade, his form and pattern,His grooves longitudinal and tranversal. why? I see that all grenade have a similar pattern with grooves..
what is the material used?

greno3mk1-1.jpg


What is this part:
what for is used?
grenring.jpg


what was the material used for these parts?

no3-parts-1.jpg


Really thanks my friend!! I hope not to tire you... perhaps you get bored with all this!! I know that these things must be obvious for the community!!:tinysmile_cry_t2:
I know also that I lack the suitable vocabulary, but I promise to learn it.
 
The grooves in the grenade are to aid in the body breaking up into fragments when the grenade explodes. Body material is steel.

The second item is the windvane, it rotates in flight and screws down to release two small pins that fall out and arm the grenade in flight. Part of the safety mechanism.

All the other parts are made of brass.
 
sgtlynn said:
The grooves in the grenade are to aid in the body breaking up into fragments when the grenade explodes. Body material is steel.

The second item is the windvane, it rotates in flight and screws down to release two small pins that fall out and arm the grenade in flight. Part of the safety mechanism.

All the other parts are made of brass.
Click to expand...

Really thanks

Wow, mechanically I think that it is very well designed!!!
do you known which speed was going out of the rifle? I think that the windvane was very sensitive.
 
The design was fantastic and tha arming device is still used today in a round about sort of way in some 40mm UGL grenades. The reason why this grenade had a short life was because of the complexity of it. The factories at the time couldn't produce the complex grenades quick enough. It was eventually brought back as the Number 20 which had scrapped the wind vane idea. Sorry but I have no idea on the velocity of the grenade once fired.
I wouldn't worry about people becoming bord talking about a grenade, everyone on here loves to talk in great detail about their hobby, so ask away.
Cheers,
Rob
 
Really thanks for info Rob.:tinysmile_twink_t2:
Now I understand because all the images of the MKI No20 seemed incomplete, they were not incomplete, simply they solved the problem realizing them simpler and with this more rapid his manufacture. Interesting.
Thanks to the help of this forum I have decided to buy the MKII No3, this already was send to my Country.:wink:
Bearing in mind that MKI and MKII are practically equal, I can modify the MKII so that I look like a MKI or also I can realize a reply of my MK II and add the modification so that it should be a MKI ... what do you think?:tinysmile_cry_t2:
 
I think it would be a bit of work, but doable. Would be nice to see the end product. ANy chance of some pictures of the MK2 before you start work on it?
 
pointblank0 said:
I think it would be a bit of work, but doable. Would be nice to see the end product. ANy chance of some pictures of the MK2 before you start work on it?
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob
I have not the grenade on my hands, soon it will come.
I can to post some pics that the seller had on the website.
I surely will have to bother you with some measurements to realize this conversion.
 
No problem. When you get it through the post, let me know what measurments you need and I'll get my measuring bits out
 
Thats a wonderful grenade, i do hope you are not going to make it into a light sabre? That would be a terrible thing to do. Would it not be better to make a copy of the casting and use that? Then you could resell the gren and make a tidy profit. I dont think such a piece of history should be destroyed. We are custodians of such things and they should be preserved for posterity. I am sure there are light sabres on the market, already made that you could aquire instead of destroying such a wonderful, historic piece of British history.
There, said my bit.

Andy
 
The No 3 grenade was over-engineered and was very difficult to make. It became slightly simpler with the No 20 BUT there were many No3 / No 20 Hybrid grenades made typically with windvane but with the No 20 top cap and internals.

I agree with Andy that this supurb grenade should not be broken up to make a light sabre. It would be far better to make rubber or resin casts and mould a new one from synthetic materials. When you have doe that you can sell the No 3 back to a grenade collector. You may even make a profit!

John
 
The price was 325.00... is to much money for me.
I understand you, I dont know that I going to do, the grenade is perfect condition, I could to make a replica of this...I dont know. Thanks you for the advices.
 
pointblank0 said:
That is a fantastic grenade you have bought. Perfect condition. How much was it?

PM sent by the way
Click to expand...

Hi ROb,
Thanks for your posts...
I pay for the grenade 325.00, is to much money for my, 1= 7$ARG,:tinysmile_cry_t3:

The 5 and 6 measurments were the diameters of these sections, thanks for your time and patience.

I can not use the Private Message, I dont know, when I click the link automatically I log out.

Gaby.
 
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