American T 33 Grenade

[siegfreid]

My last post of a disassembled grenade seemed to be quite popular so here's another you don't come across very often . The American T 33 as also used for trials by the British in the late 1940's . Similar type of fuze assembly as used for several British grenades , the "ALLWAYS" system . The T 33 could either be deployed as a simple blast grenade or with the jacket fitted , as a more lethal frag grenade . I don't think it was adopted .

 

[MINENAZ16]

Hello,

Nice grenade. Could you give dimensions ?

Thanks.

Regards

 

[siegfreid]

It's actually quite a big grenade . The body is 76mm diam. & the fuze assembly 35mm high . Here's a pic. of some other American grenades for comparison . M 67 , T13 Beano , T 32 & the T 33 . I suspect that the size of it was one of the reasons it was never adopted . Thanks , Mike .

 

[MINENAZ16]

Thank you.

 

[Bonnex]

Mike,

Good to see these. The other American grenade in the trials that you mention was the T15; maybe one of our US chums has a spare to make up your set. British experimental wire-wound grenades were also trialled during that period but I have not seen any drawings or photographs of them.

 

[sgtlynn]

Gee, I wonder where they got the idea for that fuze . Mike, any markings on the fuze mechanism, designation???

 

[siegfreid]

Darryl . There are no markings stamped on it anywhere that I can see , just the painted designation stenciled on the frag jacket . Mike

 

[US-Subs]

Mike,

Good to see these. The other American grenade in the trials that you mention was the T15; maybe one of our US chums has a spare to make up your set. British experimental wire-wound grenades were also trialled during that period but I have not seen any drawings or photographs of them.

You used to see them around on the rare occasion, haven't seen one available for 15 years or more.

 

[MINENAZ16]

Pictures of T33 from Us-Subs previous thread (I assume from Aberdeen museum)

 

[HAZORD]

What is the main body of the T33 made from?

 

[sgdbdr]

Hi,

It seems to be some plastic mixed with steel balls :



Regards,

S.

 

[sgtlynn]

The main body is magnesium. Designed to produce light fragments with limited range for offensive use, hence the frag sleeve to extend the range if desired.

 

[siegfreid]

What is the main body of the T33 made from?

Hazord . The body on my example is made entirely of a brown plastic material , possibly Bakelite . There are NO embedded steel balls & it is non magnetic . Mike.

 

[siegfreid]

The main body is magnesium. Designed to produce light fragments with limited range for offensive use, hence the frag sleeve to extend the range if desired.

Darryl. See my last post above . I think that your info refers to the T 32 body . I have just checked my example & the body is certainly a light coloured alloy that looks a lot like Mazac & is also non magnetic . The T 32 body is also heavier than the T 33 .

 

[sgtlynn]

Hmmm, Interesting.........