egbert Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Any idea on the left handed device next to the fuse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Unexploded end of a rifle-grenade, I think. (Lovely weather there!) Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Thanx Tom, Yes weather was ordered by staff! Is it a British potential rifle grenade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Martin Hales Rifle Grenade??? Bit muddy but looks similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 I agree with Drake1066. Here's a British Hales No. 10 rifle grenade for comparison. The one you photographed certainly looks like one model or another of this type of weapon: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2004 This is very convincing! Thanx Drake and Tom - mystery solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brown Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 I was just going to add this one........... Previous thread at Here Giles Poilo identified it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Thanx again; does anybody know what the different colour codes/rings stand for in Tom's and Stuart's pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 29 August , 2004 Share Posted 29 August , 2004 Difficult to tell from the first photo but as stated above it is certainly a British rifle grenade. The base looks like it may be profiled as in Tom's picture in which case it is probably a No.20. Stuart illustrates a No.24 MkI, a later simplified development of the No.20 series. As for colours, unlike shells etc British grenades were not always painted but generally the yellow in British ordanance indicates HE (high explosive), a red band indicates the item has been filled (or charged) with explosive and the green band indicates the type of explosive. In this case green indicates Amatol, pink would indicate Ammonal or Alumatol - all trade formulations of a basic TNT with added aluminium powder and other such substances to boost the explosive power. Tom's No.10 shows a pink band and traces of the original yellow ocre overall colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 September , 2004 Share Posted 1 September , 2004 The main ingredient added to TNT in Amatol is ammonium nitrate, the same stuff which can be used as fertiliser and finds its way into improvised explosive devices when mixed with fuel oil (ANFO). Ammonium nitrate is extremely hygroscopic and is prone to crystalisation. These crystals are extremely sensitive and potentially dangerous, as they can cause an explosion. One of the important checks when inspecting 3" HE mortar bombs, filled with Amatol, was to check the fuze threads, both in the bomb and the fuze, for crystal formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 1 September , 2004 Share Posted 1 September , 2004 Alumatol as the name suggests contains Aluminium derived powder . This is also added to some modern commercial quarrying mixtures to improve velocity of detonation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 1 September , 2004 Share Posted 1 September , 2004 With the risk of boring most readers with all the formulations I did not go into full detail above! But...just to clarify for those who are interested: Amatol is TNT with Ammonium Nitrate. Ammonal is generally a mixture of TNT, Ammonium Nitrate, powdered aluminium and charcoal. Alumatol is TNT, Ammonium Nitrate and powdered aluminium. There are numerous other HE formulations under various names but these TNT based high explosives were the main HE's used in British ordanance in the Great War taking over from Picric Acid (Lyddite). Over time Picric acid reacts with the steel in shells to form Picrates - highly unstables crystals - this is one of the main reasons to leave relic WW1 ordanance well alone. I believed Stokes 3" mortars were mainly filled with Picric Acid, certainly many de-activated examples I have seen have the characteristic inner varnish and you can wash them out until the cows come home and still the water is coloured yellow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now