Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I belong to several military equipment collectors groups on Facebook. A lady who was selling some of her grandfather’s WWII items contacted me because someone had told her this might be explosive. I assured her that it was simply radiotelephone parts and harmless. 6 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sixgun Sheridan 4,253 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 (edited) So she shared picks of some of the other stuff including a nice Postal Meter Carbine, some random cartridges, a few gew jaws and this. Yolks! I told her that it was an M2 hand grenade fuse and could very well be a live one. Which could ruin her whole day! I told her to contact her friendly neighborhood EOD folks at the police or fire department right now and let me know how it turned out. She contacted me about an hour later, said the bomb squad guys were there and yeah the fuse was live. The looked over the rest of the collection and made sure everything was clear. Edited January 15 by Utah Bob #35998 7 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michigan Slim 5,890 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Holy crap! Nice job UB! 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pat Riot, SASS #13748 22,367 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Holy Cow! Good job UB! Giant thumbs up to you, Sir. Nifty radio phone parts. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 7,034 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Is it a problem if nobody pulls the pin? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Texas Joker 244 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Once the pin is pulled mr grenade is no longer your friend. 1 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eyesa Horg 1,628 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Well done UB, I salute you. Pretty funny there Texas Joker! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 872 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Kudos, UB!!!!!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
watab kid 1,057 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 hmmmmmm , gotta know what your looking at if your gonna collect it - research first then buy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Bullweed 449 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Great job! Gotta wonder how long that thing had laid around like that. Probably decades... 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Badlands Bob #61228 1,883 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I'd like to take it out in a pasture and rig it up with a long cord and see if it still worked. A lot of WWII treasures are starting to show up now since the greatest generation is passing on. An M2 grenade is not something I'd want laying around the house for 75 years. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Subdeacon Joe 25,840 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Well done, sir. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth 6,667 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 (edited) 17 hours ago, Michigan Slim said: Holy crap! Nice job UB! 17 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said: Holy Cow! Good job UB! Giant thumbs up to you, Sir. Nifty radio phone parts. 16 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said: Well done UB, I salute you. Pretty funny there Texas Joker! 16 hours ago, Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 said: Kudos, UB!!!!!!!!!! 13 hours ago, Tom Bullweed said: Great job! Gotta wonder how long that thing had laid around like that. Probably decades... 12 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said: Well done, sir. Edited January 16 by Father Kit Cool Gun Garth 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Buckshot Bob 1,273 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 It’s surprising what some vets bring home . When I lived in Ca we had a local widow bring all of her husbands guns into the shop to find out what they were worth. He had your normal hunting guns and allot of WWII war trophies. No explosives but he did have a MP 40 and a MG 42 . She turned them in to the local sherrifs dept . Don’t know what would happen in modern day CA Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Calamity Kris 2,193 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Way to go, UB. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 17 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: Is it a problem if nobody pulls the pin? It was a WW2 vintage fuse. You never know with 75 year old ordnance. 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 13 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said: I'd like to take it out in a pasture and rig it up with a long cord and see if it still worked. A lot of WWII treasures are starting to show up now since the greatest generation is passing on. An M2 grenade is not something I'd want laying around the house for 75 years. Illegal to have. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 (edited) 13 hours ago, Tom Bullweed said: Great job! Gotta wonder how long that thing had laid around like that. Probably decades... It was in a wood box with a German marked Polish Radom, miscellaneous ammo, a trench art artillery shell, and other doodads from her granddad’s service. Nobody left me anything that cool. Edited January 16 by Utah Bob #35998 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 872 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Looks like that NPM carbine is missing a screw there, UB. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Angus McPherson 429 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 3 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: Illegal to have. You got me wondering, if someone did take it out to the back 40 and "pull the pin" setting off the fuse, is it still illegal to own? If it's been fired. Isn't it kind of like the casing from a fired artillery shell or LAWS tube? What about the dead fuse system in dummy grenades? What about smoke grenades? I seem to recall seeing smoke grenades for sale at gun shows some years ago. I know re-enactment groups still use smoke grenades. I have no idea where they get them. Are the fuses for fragmentation grenades different from the fuse for a smoke grenade? I understand how a live fragmentation or concussion grenade would be illegal even with the fuse removed. Angus I may be ignorant, but I'm trying to fix that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chicken Rustler, SASS #26680 73 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 One of those is just a ham radio frequency, I don't know if it was used for something else back in the day but somebody else might. The other one, at least at one time, was designated as a NATO Combined Submarine Distress frequency. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 (edited) 7 hours ago, Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 said: Looks like that NPM carbine is missing a screw there, UB. Yup. She knows that. 5 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said: You got me wondering, if someone did take it out to the back 40 and "pull the pin" setting off the fuse, is it still illegal to own? If it's been fired. Isn't it kind of like the casing from a fired artillery shell or LAWS tube? What about the dead fuse system in dummy grenades? What about smoke grenades? I seem to recall seeing smoke grenades for sale at gun shows some years ago. I know re-enactment groups still use smoke grenades. I have no idea where they get them. Are the fuses for fragmentation grenades different from the fuse for a smoke grenade? I understand how a live fragmentation or concussion grenade would be illegal even with the fuse removed. Angus I may be ignorant, but I'm trying to fix that. Live is a no no. (Without a federal explosives license) Inert is okay. Like a dewat MP40 Yes the fuses are different. A smoke fuse ignites the smoke generating chemical and the frag fuse is five-ten second timed with a detonator at the end. Bang. https://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/grenade/hand.html Edited January 17 by Utah Bob #35998 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
watab kid 1,057 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 my M1carbine was a national postal meter , they were well respected items in the collecting world Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 4 minutes ago, watab kid said: my M1carbine was a national postal meter , they were well respected items in the collecting world Yes. They only accounted for about 6% of the total carbine production. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Dan Dawkins 895 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 3 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 Bob has no job! and he loves it. 5 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirty Dan Dawkins 895 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 2 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: Bob has no job! and he loves it. If you’re married, you’re never unemployed. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Forty Rod SASS 3935 7,190 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 22 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: Illegal to have. Grenades don't kill people. People kill people. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. James H. Callahan 1,575 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 22 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said: You got me wondering, if someone did take it out to the back 40 and "pull the pin" setting off the fuse, is it still illegal to own? If it's been fired. Isn't it kind of like the casing from a fired artillery shell or LAWS tube? What about the dead fuse system in dummy grenades? What about smoke grenades? I seem to recall seeing smoke grenades for sale at gun shows some years ago. I know re-enactment groups still use smoke grenades. I have no idea where they get them. Are the fuses for fragmentation grenades different from the fuse for a smoke grenade? I understand how a live fragmentation or concussion grenade would be illegal even with the fuse removed. Angus I may be ignorant, but I'm trying to fix that. If it works the evidence is destroyed. If not pitch it in a creek sos you don't get caught with it. JHC Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.D. Daily 325 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 This post is very timely. In the news last week there was a public announcement, radio & TV, warning people about about M2 grenades bought at an antique store on the Jersey shore. The store owner believed they were inert paper weights. That is until a 12 year old was killed by one. The NJ authorities were able to recover all the sold grenades. In VN I used an inerted M67 as a paper weight. I inerted it by removing the fuse. Pulling the pin and tossing it 20 ft. Picked up the spoon, pin & what was left of the fuse. While having a BSEE from UC Berzerkly indicates some intelligence, it doesn't necessarily mean you are safety conscious. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sedalia Dave 12,720 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 (edited) There was a incident long ago of an ejection seat maintenance shop that had an expended seat rocket motor converted into an ash receiver. Was there several years until one day a still lit cigarette was dropped into it and the rocket motor decided out of the blue that it stil had enough propellant left to make a few laps around the shop, severely injuring a couple sailors. Navy put out a directive that all expended ordinance had to be destroyed and could no longer be kept as a souvenir. Edited January 18 by Sedalia Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Utah Bob #35998 15,861 Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 WW2 bomb found here out in a cow pasture.. It was a live one. Boom! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Singin' Sue 71615 670 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 On 1/15/2021 at 4:01 PM, Utah Bob #35998 said: So she shared picks of some of the other stuff including a nice Postal Meter Carbine, some random cartridges, a few gew jaws and this. Yolks! I told her that it was an M2 hand grenade fuse and could very well be a live one. Which could ruin her whole day! I told her to contact her friendly neighborhood EOD folks at the police or fire department right now and let me know how it turned out. She contacted me about an hour later, said the bomb squad guys were there and yeah the fuse was live. The looked over the rest of the collection and made sure everything was clear. Good gookamunga!!! Glad she took your advice. It is kinda like snakes....don't mess with 'em if you don't know what it is!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.D. Daily 325 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 On 1/18/2021 at 3:23 PM, Sedalia Dave said: There was a incident long ago of an ejection seat maintenance shop that had an expended seat rocket motor converted into an ash receiver. Was there several years until one day a still lit cigarette was dropped into it and the rocket motor decided out of the blue that it stil had enough propellant left to make a few laps around the shop, severely injuring a couple sailors. Navy put out a directive that all expended ordinance had to be destroyed and could no longer be kept as a souvenir. The grenade was left in VN. I forget how I disposed of it. When I was stationed at Benning the artillery unit I was assigned supported the IOCS & IOB schools. We trained the candidates & 2LT's on the use of artillery. One of the exercises was to use a howitzer simulator, which is a single shot small caliber gun that a howitzer gunsite is mounted on. The range used was also used for firing LAWS & 90mm recoiless rifles. Walking downrange one day I picked up a couple of spent LAWS rocket motors. There was no residue remaining. The solid rocket fuel behaved more like an explosive; since, it burned out before the rocket left the launch tube. I adapted them to replace the muffler extensions of a VW type 3. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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