Fake Mills gren bodies

[gothica7]

Here are a few pics of a fake No 36 bought at a boot fair earlier this year.

All the components were repro apart from the base plug.

Firstly, the chanels for the lever lugs were too shallow, the markings, JH W not clear enough and the big giveaway as per Dave Sampson's website is that there is a lip to the threads for the centre tube. The tube was just a bodge made from ally and the ringpull, pin, striker and spring were of very poor standard.
Ile do a pic of the filler, marked W D, again, just not right.


Andy

[paul the grenade]

makes you wonder why anyone would go to all that bother of faking something that is very common??

[gothica7]

makes you wonder why anyone would go to all that bother of faking something that is very common??

Financial gain bud. If someone can knock 20 of these out at say a tenner each then sell them on for upwards of £50 [there's one on a website for £80 at the moment] there will be close on £800 profit, there's why.

Andy

[dano1917]

I embarassingly admit that this one would have fooled me. My education is non-stop and I just love it when someone points out the fakes...Dano

[gothica7]

Hi Dano,

its quite obvious when you look closely but it helps if you are a Mills 'nutter' like me.


Andy

[gothica7]

Here is the filler as promised, again, like me, just not quite right.

Andy

[gothica7]

All the current batch of fake No 36s are marked J H W. John Harper, Willenhall, Staffs. The marks are not quite like the original, which should look like this, barring a bloody great hole.

Andy

[dano1917]

There is a fake m1917 German egg grenade. Only one problem. It is an exact copy of the grenade. The fake has the shorter close to the body grip band lugs. The base has no marking. There are real eggs with no base markings. Suspect any without base markings and get to know the telltale signs (feel, paint and patina). Again it is a low value piece but like Andy said if you turn out a number of them could be profitable. I was surprised when I learned of this. Anyway if your egg has a makers mark on the base it's pretty for sure good....Dano

[Grenademan2005]

What? Have you any pic of this?

[dano1917]

What? Have you any pic of this?

No Miguel, Unfortunately not. I did hold one once and it is good. The attached picture shows the grip ring style of the fake (grenade in picture is original). The one I held had an original transport plug and no fuze. Again, the fake has no makers mark on base. Another to keep an eye out for is the earlier smooth bodied egg. Many have been made by taking an egg and grinding down the lugs. Some are very good. This one you just need to hold it at different angles while eying the center of the body. Not fail safe by any means. There are alot of these buggers going around. I for one am all for a repro/fake ID spot on the forum...Dano