WWII MKII Pineapples

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Would like some advice on this couple of pineapples that I scored last week. They were supposedly picked up from Guadalcanal many years ago and painted etc. The chap had a container full of field found objects from a battle field which leads me to think that there is a chance the grenades might be fair dinkum. I remember many years ago also acquiring grenades of similar condition from the police in the Russells just north of Guadalcanal.

I will post the fuzes latter (this evening) that came with them. They must've been added to them as they certainly were not original and looked suspect.

Many thanks,
Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Here is the 2nd Grenade.

 

[Fragman]

Hi. The pineapples found in the Guadalcanal area in the 70's and 80's were in very good condition, with much of the original paint still present. I have seen many levers found in that area and typically they were M10A1's. Hope this helps. Cheers

 

[HAZORD]

I'm not a grenade expert by any means, but I question why the surfaces of the framents are so perfect with sharp edges on each section. I would think that something so old would have rusted and worn, and have more pitting and corrosion that what is shown. None of my WWII pineapples have sharp edges like that, and they were never rusty. The grenades look like they just came out of a new mold.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Here is the first fuze. Somehow they just doesn't look like the correct fuzes for the MkII grenades.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Here is the 2nd fuze. Can anybody ID both. They certainly must've been added after the grenades were picked up.

 

[sgtlynn]

The so called levers are trash for sure. There should also be a stem on the bottom of the body.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

The so called levers are trash for sure. There should also be a stem on the bottom of the body.

They looked like trash to me as well, more like as if they have been borrowed from a toy. But before I hiff them I want to be 100% sure they were not off something else.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

I'm not a grenade expert by any means, but I question why the surfaces of the framents are so perfect with sharp edges on each section. I would think that something so old would have rusted and worn, and have more pitting and corrosion that what is shown. None of my WWII pineapples have sharp edges like that.

I was handed a couple of pineapple bodies in the 80's by the police in the Russell Islands just north of Guadalcanal. They were as Fragman stated, still in very good condition so if these two grenades were indeed picked up I too wouldn't be surprised. Even though the bloke I got them from had a heap of battlefield pickups I still don't feel comfortable until I have had some expert opinions. The crap fuzes sort of tell me that an investigation is necessary.

Must admit though that they certainly don't show the weather. Then nothing ever surprises me. I have seen a whole rice bag full of Japanese 20mm live rounds under somebodies house in behind Honiara and they were all still in perfect nick complete with colour coding.

 

[HAZORD]

Bougainville,

Do an advanced search here on BOCN. Key in pineapple in the search box. Look at anyone else's pineapples. All of the real ones are sand cast, and have a sandlike surface texture, especially in the grooves. The grooves are also radiused at the bottom, yours are sharp. Your replicas came out of a metal mold. They don't have a sand cast texture. They do have tool marks though, which came from the metal mold. The sharp edges on your items actually remind me of the Russian Design F1's coming out of former communist countries.

Here are some random photos from BOCN. You will also notice that the vertical grooves continue all the way onto the neck, instead of just having indentations.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Bougainville,

Do an advanced search here on BOCN. Key in pineapple in the search box. Look at anyone else's pineapples. All of the real ones are sand cast, and have a sandlike surface texture, especially in the grooves. The grooves are also radiused at the bottom, yours are sharp. Your replicas came out of a metal mold. They don't have a sand cast texture. They do have tool marks though, which came from the metal mold. The sharp edges on your items actually remind me of the Russian Design F1's coming out of former communist countries.

Here are some random photos from BOCN. You will also notice that the vertical grooves continue all the way onto the neck, instead of just having indentations.

Many thanks HAZORD. I really appreciate your help. Now I know what I have and what to lookout for in the future. Hard though to find over here, as this is more Mills country.

 

[HAZORD]

Bougainville, you are very welcome. I've seen pineapples all my life and yours looked too sharp from the start. I'm a visual person and a manufacturing guy, so things have to look right. I wouldn't be very good at picking out a fake mills though.

 

[sgtlynn]

I think the first body is a good one. Bit suspicious of the second one though.

 

[Snufkin]

I think the first body is a good one. Bit suspicious of the second one though.

I'd agree. I'd also say the second body is original, but was heavily rusted and then given a substantial sanding by mounting in a lathe, or even a drill, as horizontal sanding marks on the neck and segment surfaces indicate. The horizontal and vertical grooves have been "cleaned" with a grinding wheel most likely. The segments are sharply defined, but all are now rather random in shape, typical of a grinding wheel treatment. The small pits of deep rust and condition of the base are evidence of its original past.

Attached is a MkII (empty body) I photographed in October 1998 straight from the lagoon at Tarawa. I've seen many in similar condition on Guadalcanal and Peleliu, and after a bit of acid treatment and some mechanical remodelling you can end up with what you have. The patches of white on the base of your second example indicate it's probably had some time exposed to sea water or salt mist.





Tom.

 

[HAZORD]

Bougainville,

Can you measure the diameter of your two items? They look a bit larger than a real pineapple. Do you have a real WWII U.S. one that you can measure to compare?

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Bougainville,

Can you measure the diameter of your two items? They look a bit larger than a real pineapple. Do you have a real WWII U.S. one that you can measure to compare?

I measured both grenades and the 1st one with plug is 3 & 19/32" long and 2 & 9/32" at it's widest point. The 2nd one is the same width but only 3 & 17/32" long. Both are smooth inside albeit a bit rusty.

I do have a couple of pineapples from Guadalcanal but they are with my brother in New Zealand but can't get them into Australia thanks to the ULTRA PARANOID AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMS. All my collector mates who live nearby all have mills but no pineapples so have nothing to compare them with.

 

[HAZORD]

OK, I will measure my various ones to compare

 

[HAZORD]

Bogainville,

I measured the WWII pineapple that I had access to. It is a yellow painted with OD overpaint, so manufactured before 42 then repainted. Using a digital cliper, the widest point measured 2.260 across. Your measurement of 2-9/32 equals 2.281, making your grenade .020 larger than a real one. 20 thousands isn't much, and most likely in tolerance, but the theory that they were turned down to make the fragments sharp doesn't work. If that was the case they would be much smaller in diameter, like 50 thousands or more. If you sandblast the hell out of them and knock off the sharp edges, then paint them OD, you could screw in some booby trap devices for a nice booby trap display. They might be real, as far as being a Korean or some other nationality copy of a U.S. pineapple, but not legit U.S.

 

[wichitaslumlord]

Hello, I must agree with snufkin as to the bodies (especially the second one) being "restored" from heavily rusted originals. There are chips here and there that show old, deep pitting. They have generously applied some form of filler, making them oversize, and then filed and sanded them down to what we see. There are body shop products which can be sprayed on, providing an incredible amount of buildup, and remain easily sandable. I have seen attempted restorations similar to this and the result is something that looks fake.