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German potato masher frag. sleeves

Tmine35

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
A couple of M24 stick grenade fragmentation sleeves before- and after cleaning.
 

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I have a couple of these ,im amazed at the variation in prices when these are sold ,i got mine for only 5 euros each,but ive seen them for $100-200 USD
Is there a reason why they didnt make the grenade heads from thicker steel instead of having to use a seperate frag sleeve
 
I think there were 2 reasons; first, presses to make thick wall heads are for much heavier duty and possibly not available in the workshops normally making these grenade parts. Second, steel used to press such a head in one piece must be very soft and it does not produce good fragments, these sleeves are in fact quite hard steel.
 
Forgot a third reason; at that time it was general idea to have grenades for both offensive and defensive use ( with fragments and without ).
 
The last reason is the biggest- and with German Army tactics- it is the most profound.
The Germans practiced (and still do) a tactical formation known as the "recon pull" method, much like the Japanese.
The low-fragmenting case allows for an assault team to continue to move around defensive positions. (the Japanese used wooden bullets for the same reason- not because they ran out of metal, but to limit the effective range of the bullet as they practiced a "swarming assault" from all directions)
a large number of squads move towards the position they are to attack, each one reconning it's own approach. Whoever finds the easiest way, leads the assault.
The Vietnamese refined it further- after breaking through a defensive line, they target command and control centers before anything else (Watch the tactics in the last battle scene of the movie Platoon to see it)
Germany still uses the technique, whereas the American army practices a "command push" method- less tactical initiative is given at the individual/squad level, but firepower is used to make up for that.
 
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