What's new
British Ordnance Collectors Network

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Gibbons conversion

Fragman

Fragman

Ordnance Approved
Ordnance approved
Hi. I came across this Gibbons recently. Whilst it's ground recovered, it's still very nice. I initially thought it was just dirt build up under the spring, but upon getting the base plug off its apparent that it was filled with cement, some of which has come out the empty filling plug hole. Anybody else come across one that has been cement filled? Cheers
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    234.3 KB · Views: 74
  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    277.7 KB · Views: 72
  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    182.4 KB · Views: 68
Never seen that before but it doesn't surprise me in the least . That actually looks like a pretty decent example all things considered . I'd personally just give it a light clean & definitely not try to remove the cement . Terrific piece of history & thanks for sharing . Mike .
 
Hi Mike. Thanks for your comments. It's had a brief swim in boiling water and will now spend the rest of its days on the shelf. The only other Mills I've seen filled with cement is a WW2 No36 Practice. Cheers
 
Last edited:
Perfect ! I've seen several practice throwing Mills filled with cement or similar so it's really nice to see your Gibbons .
 
A couple of years ago I was shown a cement filled no 23 that was found in the old WW1 practice trenches at Shorncliffe Barracks near Folkestone, Kent. Part of the body had split in its final launch. I was also asked to restore another 23 found in the same area, again it was empty like a Gibbons but was a local conversion. I concluded that the concrete filled examples were local conversions.

John
 
I have seen a lot of practice grenades (especially US Mk2) that have been filled with cement or the like later after their military career, because the new (civilian) owner wanted to get enough weight to simulate a live grenade. Now I got to know a different variant for real drill purpose. Very interesting topic. And before I even knew nothing of the 'Gibbons spring' - a lot of new insights. Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes from Germany.
 
Last edited:
I am not really a grenade guy myself, but I do want a nice Canadian made mills someday. Can anyone tell me what is special about this grenade? Seems very interesting (and rare!)
 
The Gibbons grenade was a specially made practice grenade for hand throwing or use as a rifle grenade. It had a small spring clip screwed to the top of the grenade that allowed the lever to flick off when the grenade was released. It allowed the grenade to be used again rapidly without any complex re-cocking of the normal mechanism.

DSCN1344.jpg

The grenade had no centrepiece, striker or spring.

John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top