No5 Mills.

[Bullet Mick]

Hello i picked up these No5s at the War and Peace show. The one on the left hand side is the first one i have with a drilled lever the other two have flat levers. I was wondering if anyone could tell me when they stopped using the drilled levers. I have been told they were dropped due to causing problems when arming at lot of grenades at the same time in the field because they were all individually drilled and if mixed up they would not fit other grenades. Cheers Mick.

 

[siegfreid]

Mick . The last grenade has a ribbed No23 lever . The pierced levers were used right through the No5 production & depended on the maker . You are right to say they would n't fit all the grenades but would fit the ones from the same manufacturers . The early Mills made ones had patent numbers stamped into the top & it's always worth looking out for these as they are very scarce . The same principle holds good for the centre tubes , they are rarely interchangeable between makers & examples with brass centre tubes won't take alloy ones etc . Nice 3 grenades , though & well done finding them !

 

[Bullet Mick]

Thanks for that Siegfreid i didnt know that ribbed levers are from the No23s. I think i have another one in my collection with a ribbed lever i shall dig out my mills tomorrow and have a look. Every days a school day. Cheers Mick.

 

[Bullet Mick]

Found another four in my collection with ribbed levers and No5 plugs. Makes me question if they are No5s with No23 levers or No23s with No5 plugs or a mixture of both.

 

[siegfreid]

Mick . The bodies on No5's & 23 Mk1's & 2's are identical . If you want one of yours to be a No23 just change the plug for a 23 & keep the ribbed lever on it . Most semi relic WW1 Mills are an amalgamation of parts from different grenades & as No23 Mk2 plugs are made of cast iron , they rust badly & get replaced with brass No5 plugs that survive much better. Mike.

 

[Millsman]

Hello i picked up these No5s at the War and Peace show. The one on the left hand side is the first one i have with a drilled lever the other two have flat levers. I was wondering if anyone could tell me when they stopped using the drilled levers. I have been told they were dropped due to causing problems when arming at lot of grenades at the same time in the field because they were all individually drilled and if mixed up they would not fit other grenades. Cheers Mick.
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Hi Mick

I know the source of your grenades and they are made up from collections loose bits. The guy in France who deactivates them supplies enough levers, strikers, centrepieces etc to build however many you are buying. So the parts are not matched, i.e the body did not originally have that lever / striker on it when found.

The use of the drilled (slabsided) lever declined from January 1916 and I (personally) think they were redundant soon after that (I don't think I've seen one beyond May 1916 on Somme found grenades). It was cheaper and easier for manufacturers to use the pin over the lever method, rather than drilling through the shoulders and the lever. Similarly the centrecast was harder to make and became redundant quite quickly. Manufacturers will always go with the quicker cheaper option.

John

 

[Millsman]

Mick

I should add that the soldier in the field would normally only have to add the detonator. He would not have mucked about taking off levers and pins. The slabsided lever also had the problem that if you gripped it too hard you could not withdraw the pin (try it). So a soldier who was in a panic could not use the grenade that might save him.

John