Wooden Training Grenades.

[ron3350]

I show these two wooden training grenades. Has anybody got similar grenades? British?
The barrel shaped one is lead filled and weighs 1lb 0.8oz (478g).
The other looks fragile and is lead filled and weighs 13.9oz (395g).

Are these both meant to represent No5 grenades for throwing practice or is the second one a replica? All comments are welcome.

 

[gothica7]

thank you for showing, I dont have any wooden Mills in my collection as those that I have seen have looked too mint and i have no idea of their age an being charged up to £50 for a bit of unknown wood has put me off. However i reckon yours are the real thing and ime envious. They look like they have been well used and you must be happy to have them. I only have cast iron types.

 

[ron3350]

I agree gothica7 but price here was 170 pounds 6 years ago so not cheap. 50 pounds was cheap.
I also wonder if they are genuine but I have not seen any others since then and I have 2 in the collection. I hope they are real. Thanks for the comments.

 

[gothica7]

I havnt seen many for sale bud, those that I have have been almost perfect and therefore never been used as a training aid. I suspect they may have been used to make the molds in the casting sand to make a complete cast iron grenade. Yours seem just fine to me but for that money I would rather but a real grenade.They may have been made for home guard used during WW 2, dont think we will ever know, nice to have.



Andy.

 

[Millsman]

I remember one selling on UK E by Gum about 10 years ago for £80. It was like the first type shown here, a barrel with a weight in the middle.

Nice part of the Mills story.

 

[dodgydave]

Moulds for grenades etc are usually in 2 halves, each side of a board, which fits between the mould frames; green sand is then packed in one side, the frame turned over and then the other side is packed; the mould frame is then separated, the board removed, sand core fitted and then reassembled.....basically; I used to work in a foundry that made Mills bombs in both wars!

 

[Millsman]

At long last I've found the photos of the wooden Mills I tried to buy some time ago.



Marked "M 1915".

 

[JCB99]

Here are two Japanese T91 wooden training grenades. The only two I have ever seen in my collecting lifetime. Shown next to a Type 10 training grenade. Pardon the bad pictures, my camera isn't working right.

I am on twitter, check it out....lol. https://twitter.com/Jcb89319357

Jim
JapaneseOrdnance(at)yahoo.com

 

[reccetrooper]

Jim, are they for loading/unloading practice only, or was there a propellant in the base enabling practice firing?

 

[JCB99]

re: Reccetrooper. Hello. These are clearly for loading/unloading practice, the boosters are actually wooden inside with a cheap brass booster housing attached. They are in poor condition but again, these are the only wooden Japanese training grenades I have ever seen. Thank you for your interest.

 

[JCB99]

Here are two related Japanese WWII Wooden training pieces. The two rounds marked with red arrows are: Japanese Army 75mm Drill round with wooden projectile and simulated brass fuze. The case is dated 1929. The smaller round is a Japanese Type 1 47mm Drill round with Wooden and brass casing. Hard to get.

 

[Burney Davis]

I thought I would add pictures of a couple of wooden grenades I have had for years. The one on the right is more of a fibrous material than wood, but I thought I would include it anyway.

I've been told various things about them but I'd appreciate the collective thoughts on age, type etc.

 

[Burney Davis]

No one able to provide additional information or thought on these two grenades?

 

[JCB99]

I don’t have anything to say about those two. Back to Japanese wooden ord, here is a wooden training/practice 50mm knee mortar round.