ID on No.36 basepalte and plug

[fivenine]

Hi All
Curious about this base plate and plug on a M36 dated 2/17 and made by B&H? marked on the base plate. Seems too well made for general manufacturing with the lug fitting into the base plug, not one I have seen before and any further info very welcome.

 

[Millsman]

The grenade is a No 5 or No 23 not a 36. Where is the B&H mark?

I don't understand how the plug screws onto the gas check when there is a fixed retaining pin???

 

[fivenine]

Hi All
Curious about this base plate and plug on a M36 dated 2/17 and made by B&H? marked on the base plate. Seems too well made for general manufacturing with the lug fitting into the base plug, not one I have seen before and any further info very welcome.
View attachment 155833View attachment 155834View attachment 155835

The B&H mark is on the gas check, top of photo 3 opposite the date stamp. The gas check has a free screw, visible in photo 3 which goes through the gas check from below and secures into the base plug with the pin, next to the screw engaging in any of the cutouts on the plug. There are no markings on the grenade body or lever, the filling plug is slightly domed.

 

[siegfreid]

I would suggest that plug has been recently manufactured to replace a missing one & attached to the gas check to make a stand for display . That type of arrangement with a pin & loose screw is often used on trench art type items . Hope this helps .

 

[Millsman]

Someone also had to alter the gas check.

 

[fivenine]

Thanks guys. As it is an early date for a 36 and the body may indeed be a 23 or 5, I haven't bothered to compare yet, and the exact nature of manufacture, for me at least, points to a possible trial example for the war office. The 6 castellation indents into which the check plate engages seems complicated but allows for ease in darkness of marrying the check plate to the base plug. All over complicated and possibly why it never went beyond assessment stage and remained a souvenir.

 

[gothica7]

For what its worth I think the gas check is the more interesting item not the grenade as they knew it could be used as a rifle grenade and they used any grenade they had to hand at the time so I reckon its a mighty rare bit of kit so look after it. I think that they were experimenting ways to attach a body to the check securely for use and ended up with the most common type we see used for the No 36 used up to ww2, After all there has to be some evidence of experimental use somewhere and this is it. Great find bud and thanks for showing, be proud to own it to add to my experimental No 36 with a thickened ring instead of a gas check.



Andy