Interesting Japanese Type 98

[batonroundcollector]

Never seen this variant before... What's with the protrusion from the 'head'?

https://www.ima-usa.com/products/or...-and-pull-string-inert?variant=40580517986373

 

[reccetrooper]

Type 98-B

On this diagram 木栓 means wooden plug. I’m not certain of the purpose.

 

[sgdbdr]

Maybe they considered the use of an impact fuze ?

 

[batonroundcollector]

Thanks George! No, I can't imagine purpose of the wooden plug either - looking at the photos it doesn't appear to extend to the outside as it appears in the diagram, as would be expected if it was a filler plug (assume head was filled from below before being fixed to stick anyways)...

Maybe they considered the use of an impact fuze ?

A percussion fuze (rather than an Allways-type impact fuze), given position of the possible housing (where plug is shown)? I thought about this, but then grenade would need some mechanism to ensure it always fell head-down - a streamer, drogue etc, right?

 

[reccetrooper]

Marc, maybe the grenade casing is an unused old stock component that was originally made for an earlier type of impact grenade, and was then utilised to make the B variant of the Type 98. Just a guess, but seems plausible.

These images are 1907 and 1918.

 

[batonroundcollector]

Thanks George, I'd just reached the same conclusion myself after viewing the archived Lexpev site The earlier grenade was the 'Taisho 7' - it looks like unfinished heads (with impact fuze housing not yet bored out) were later fitted to sticks for Type 98 as to all intents a purposes they are similar to usual head for that grenade. I did though wonder about the effectiveness of these grenades given their thick cast iron bodies with no serrations either outside or in to aid fragmentation; if they were instead intended for blast effect, why not a thin body like the Stielhandgranate?