Mills grenade VS 3 inch Stokes mortar

[ludokhan]

Hi, this morning I get a small package live from the ypres front.

whouaaa, too happy a striker for mills ''french ''... but ... wait a moment I've already seen this in a previous post.

.

http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/97637-French-Mills?highlight=mills+french


would it be possible that the last striker I miss.



if only I had a center piece of mills french I would be 100% sure.....

but not ....the only place where we find the same striker ... almost the same as the mills it is there.

......inside a 3 inch Stokes shell.


same length even head but not the same end ....


conclusion , I think that the French mills (dunkirk ) have the same striker as the N °5
...until proven otherwise ...:tinysmile_twink_t2:



PS ; special thanks to Réal ... 23 years of EOD in poelkapelle barrack for his knowledge.

 

[Snufkin]

The striker in the French-made Mills has a slot milled along its length (shown in the first photo) in order to vent the exhaust gases from the burning safety fuze. The striker in the Stokes pistol has no such venting slot - it doesn't need it as a vent hole is provided in the pistol body, just above the .410 cartridge but below the hole for the second safety pins. The size of the centre fire pip is also slightly different between the French Mills striker and the Stokes striker.

 

[batonroundcollector]

why did the British not see fit to add slot in striker - and also the 'pin' on bottom - in their Mills?

 

[Millsman]

The French made Mills like the Roland grenade had a centre fire cartridge to set off the fuse hence the central pin. The Mills used a .22 rimfire cartridge hence the wide 'teeth' on the Mills stikers.

Mills did design the short slot in the Mills striker for the same reason as the Dunkirk. Mills filed a patent in 1915 adding the slot to the striker but although first added to grenades in 1916 was not universal in the Mills 23 until 1918.