Mills Lever markings

[CaptainCaveman]

Found what looks like to me hieroglyphic type markings on a no 36m mk 1 lever ( presumably fake?).

They look like 2 triangles and a small industrial site building ( to me anyways!)



Any shedding of light would be much appreciated

 

[Snufkin]

CHATCO (Chatham Co. of Canada). Image is inverted.




Tom.

 

[Millsman]

Looks like a well worn Canadian ChatCo lever.

John

 

[Millsman]

Just beat me by seconds Tom!

John

 

[CaptainCaveman]

Now you've said it....I can see it :tinysmile_twink_t:

 

[Millsman]

Normally found on GALT (Galt Metal Industries) No36's.

John

 

[CaptainCaveman]

Body has a G....base plug 3 o's (or circles) in circle pattern, does that sound right?

 

[Millsman]

Beat you to it!

John

 

[Millsman]

Baseplug and centrepieces were normally made by S Joseph Stokes Ltd.

John

 

[Snufkin]

If the base plug and centre piece are marked with an S in an elongated hexagon, or lozenge, then they were made by the Schultz Die Casting Co.

 

[CaptainCaveman]

Base plug and centrepiece

 

[Millsman]

That's it. All as per the previous posts. They are nice grenades. Possibly the highest quality made in WW2 (IMHO). John

 

[Infanteer]

Body has a G....base plug 3 o's (or circles) in circle pattern, does that sound right?

Those circles are just marks left by the manufacturing process.

 

[CaptainCaveman]

This is the front view

 

[batonroundcollector]

They are nice grenades. Possibly the highest quality made in WW2 (IMHO). John

I have a couple of these... any reason why they are so common in such mint condition - I wondered if this entire batch was never issued??

 

[Snufkin]

I have a couple of these... any reason why they are so common in such mint condition - I wondered if this entire batch was never issued??

These grenades have been covered a number of times on BOCN. Many are Canadian, but there are also some British made examples, that were supplied to the Netherlands after WWII. Whether they were initially empty or filled is not clear but they were used by the Dutch as training grenades, painted white and usually with two holes drilled in the casing, one on each side. The base plug usually has an O impressed, which could be for "opleiding" (training), but could mean something else.

At some point around ten years ago, maybe more, a whole tranch (literally hundreds) came onto the market and some enterprising person had the idea of stripping the white paint, welding up the two holes and then re-varnishing and putting a narrow green band around the middle. And some red crosses of course. The modern varnish is a poor substitute for the original copal varnish and the green band is no where near the correct width for a service grenade. Compared to a WWII No.36 with genuine, original varnish and markings these modern "restorations" look abysmal. Even so they are still often sold with such flowing descriptions as, "An exceptional example in original condition, impossible to improve".

Mint they are not, and a good example of how the genuine collecting pool can be polluted.




Tom.

 

[CaptainCaveman]

So which applies to the above pic?

 

[spotter]

So which applies to the above pic?

easiest way to find out is if you can unscrew the centre tube and look inside the casing,you will see the blobs of weld used to close the holes

 

[CaptainCaveman]

I' d need a tool for that, how crude would the outside be?

 

[spotter]

Its been several years since i saw them but the ones i have seen you could just make out where the holes had been welded and ground flat