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No36 Mk1 with PSC body

B

bones92

Member
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I know next to nothing about these, but it sure is intriguing.

Any idea as to approximate value? Just curious to know how I did.
 
Matching makers marks, original finish, very nice not a rare one 50-70, maybe you will get that at the moment, its a buyers market at the present time,,,, Dave
 
Looks nice and original, must be worth around 50 or $80 by today's exchange rate.
 
bones92 said:
Am I right in interpreting the bottom markings of 8-40 as a production date of August 1940?
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That's right. The Parkinson Stove Co. Ltd (PSC) received three contracts for the No.36, all in 1940:

294/G/4358 in March 1940 for 500,000 at 60,000 per week to be completed July 1940;
294/G/5138 in July 1940 for 500,000 at 60,000 per week (follow on from 4358);
294/G/5634 In August 1940 for 750,000 at 60,000 from October 1940.

It looks like yours is from the second contract.



Tom.
 
Thanks, Tom.

The PSC mark is on the spoon and body, as well as the bottom plug. The filler plug (if that is the right term) on the upper side is marked "E.E.Co". Is this expected, or should it be PSC as well?
 

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Alloy (mazak) filler plugs and base plugs were often supplied by companies specialising in diecasting. The English Electric Co. were one such making both fillers and base plugs in 1940-1. Your filler plug looks original to the body, and PSC as a company specialising in iron and steel products would not have made the mazak components.

The base plug is made by Wolverhampton Die Casting Co. (WDC) and then overstamped PSC 8 40 by the grenade maker. The Z denotes that the alloy contains zinc. (Sometimes faked steel No.36 gas checks are found, amusingly stamped Z WDC.)

The 52 marking on the body is a mould identifier.




Tom.
 
Thanks again, Tom.

I'm more of a military rifle collector, but this grenade, along with a very nice original Japanese Type 97 I have, might make for a good shadow-box display.

Hmmm... maybe I need to find an original US grenade, too.

DSC04163.jpg
 
This is kind of funny... I figured this grenade was missing a piece, since there is nothing sticking up out of the top being held in place by the spoon. Then it occurred to me that the pin with the notch in the end is what should be sticking out of the top. Does someone have a link or diagram describing the inner mechanism of the No36 grenade (i.e. how the fuse is ignited, etc)?

Is it advisable to keep the grenade stored without the spring compressed?
 
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Try this:

http://www.inert-ord.net/brit/mills/index.html

In normal indoors conditions of temperature and humidity, it probably makes little difference whether you keep the grenade with spring compressed or released. Over time a spring in compression or extension can suffer permanent distortion, and thereby loss of performance, but since the grenade is unlikely to be called on to perform the job it was made for, it's probably not too crucial.



Tom.
 
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bones92 said:
This is kind of funny... I figured this grenade was missing a piece, since there is nothing sticking up out of the top being held in place by the spoon. Then it occurred to me that the pin with the notch in the end is what should be sticking out of the top. Does someone have a link or diagram describing the inner mechanism of the No36 grenade (i.e. how the fuse is ignited, etc)?

Is it advisable to keep the grenade stored without the spring compressed?
Click to expand...

Try this link bones,if you scroll down to the second grenade image you can see how basic the mechanism is http://science.howstuffworks.com/grenade2.htm
 
Tom, great link! Thanks. I wish mine still had the fuse assembly, but I'm guessing there's no easy way of demilling the fuse assembly without actually blowing it up. If I had the metal piece that the delay cord connects to, I could probably make a copy. But then, it's not that big of an issue.
 
If you PM BOCN member "Siegfreid", he may well have a Drill example of an igniter assembly.



Tom.
 
Mr Bones

Mills Grenades have levers not 'spoons'.

PSC grenades are not common and the markings are often feint in my experience, especially on the plugs. So well done if yours is clearly marked. I got mine for 50 at an auction with some other stuff - holsters and .38 chargers that I then sold for 50, so I sort of got mine for free in the end.

John
 
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