latest aquisition BRITISH No4Mk1

[paul the grenade]

Hi All. Ive been looking for one of these for donkeys years and finally one has turned up. Its in absolute mint condition with all its parts present except the creep spring and a few ball bearings from around the striker which should be easy to replace. even the string pull loop is original.
The No4 Mk1 was introduced in 1914 and issued to the naval wing of the royal flying corps for use in shooting down balloons and dirigibles. as it had no set back collar beneath the wind vane, the smle rifle it was fired from had a safety spike attached near the muzzle that passed through the wind vane and stopped it rotating when the pin was removed (anyone got one of these spikes?) to aid detonation upon striking the soft fabric of the balloon, the striker had ball bearings around the front and back to give it a very fast action.
the grenade could also be fitted with a tail fin and dropped as a bomb from planes. it was declared obsolete in october 1918
hope you like it.:tinysmile_grin_t:
cheers, paul.

 

[gothica7]

Very nice Paul. Must be as rare as hen's teeth, especially in such fantastic condition.
You are very lucky. Must have cost a pretty packet too.

Well done and thanks for showing it.

Andy

 

[roller63]

A nice original, quality item Paul. Well done.

 

[dano1917]

Great and interesting grenade Paul, with a fine story...Dano

 

[inertordnance]

Nice Example Paul, thanks for posting!

Stay safe,

Frank

 

[butterfly]

Very nice grenade Paul, well done in tracking that one down. Always nice to see excellent examples of scarce items.

regards Kev

 

[SG500]

Nice grenade Paul, excellent condition. Thanks for showing it.

Dave.

 

[ordnance]

Superb piece Paul. I've always wanted to find a No.4 for the collection but they are scarce enough in England, and virtually impossible to get over here. Congratulations on your good fortune.

Rick

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Very nice item

Even I can appreciate that that is indeed a very nice Grenade Paul, thanks for showing us.

 

[Richard709]

Nice Item

Very Nice item Paul and looks to be in mint condition. If you PM me with the metric size for your ball bearings, I should be able to get you a some to match.

Richard

 

[dano1917]

Paul, My first post I was kinda busy on the "work bench", Geez this is a pretty major WWI find and in no way did I mean to diminish its meaning. But when your 52 and find yourself on the "work bench" other considerations must be taken into account. One hell of a find my man! This is huge in the WWI world. And man I tried like hell to save my 3000th post for the grenade I have comig from your way, well that did not happen either...Dano.......

 

[sgtlynn]

Fabulous find Paul, Congratulations!!!

 

[dano1917]

rarity

Rarity is nat a word just too many collectors like to throw out there. Paul, just how scarce is this fine jewell? This is the very first i've seen so I assume they are not at every militaria shoppe. Just wondering how rare it is. it is defo a SWEET grenade. congratulations and keep "the hunt" on.......Dano

 

[paul the grenade]

Hi Dan.
I only know of a few in other collections so i would say rare is a very good word to use. It would be nice if other members who have one would post some pics.
Cheers, Paul.

 

[dano1917]

Hi Dan.
I only know of a few in other collections so i would say rare is a very good word to use. It would be nice if other members who have one would post some pics.
Cheers, Paul.

Agreed Paul, I wish all members would post pics of their collections. I like seeing both the rare and the common. It is mind boggling the number of (even if slight) variants there are in existance. So this is a challange to all members. Let us see and enjoy pictures of your wares. What good is a collection if it cannot be viewed by the waiting masses??????? Dano

 

[roller63]

Sorry Paul, I don't have one :tinysmile_cry_t:

 

[paul the grenade]

Finally managed to get the striker release bolts out of the base section with the help of lots of wd 40 and a pin. the striker was missing the creep spring and the ball bearings that would have given it a lightning fast movement. i pinched the spring from one of my lesser rifle grenades and had some help with the ball bearings from a great forum member. ive used a smear of lithium grease to keep the bb's on the striker. it now fits perfectly in the centre tube, and has a very fast action when the tube is tipped up. it was so fast in fact that the sharp striker stuck in my finger!:tinysmile_cry_t4: that will teach me to be more careful.
its now as complete as it can be. heres a few more pics.
cheers, paul.