Funny, the things you talk about in the car on long trips. We talked about India and Pakistan and Atomic Bombs,and somehow the talk turned to hand grenades.
How do you know how long your PARTICULAR hand grenade will go, between the time you pull the pin and the time it explodes? Are they marked by pattern? Are they literally time-stamped somewhere? Are all hand grenades 10-second…5-second…??
What if you wanted to pull the pin, wait 5 seconds and then throw so it exploded in the air near the bad people, how would you KNOW you had MORE than 5 seconds to play with?
This, from the mind of a pacifist’s 10 year old daughter…:rolleyes:
IIRC, the fuse on a US issue defensive grenade is adjustable but, that isn’t something that is taught to all basic training grads. If a shorter that 5 sec fuse is needed you pop the spoon and “cook off” for a couple of seconds before throwing. This prevents the recipient from playing “hot potato” with you. Which, of course, is a BAD THING.
If I remember correctly, there is a 5 second period from when the spoon is released until the time the grenade explodes. Also, all the pin does is keep the spoon on. If you have your hand around the grenade properly, you should be able to pull the pin, and hold onto the grenade indefinetly. Its only when the spring tensioned spoon flies off the grenade that the 5 seconds starts.
I remember when we were training with grenades, we were taught that if a situation arose when a grenade could be thrown through a tanks hatch, or up close through a bunker opening, that the grenade should be “cooked” for 2 seconds before dropping it in. That way, the occupants of the tank or bunker would not have time to throw the grenade back out.
That is why “3” shall be the number of thy counting, and the number of thy counting shall be “3”. Not “4”, nor “2” excepting that thou shalt then progress on to “3”. “6” is right out.
On a related note, my reserve unit’s annual “Winter indoc” (i.e. we go out with the newbies and drag toboggans and set up tents and whatnot) usually includes an introduction to pyrotechnics. We have the small “thunderflashes”, which make a relatively mild “bang”, and the more ponderous “arty-sims”, which gives off a long whistle (simulating the fall of artillery shells) and a satisfying BOOM derived from their explosive equivalent of a quarter-stick of dynamite.
Normally these sims have a whistle lasting six or seven seconds, but on one occasion, the whistle ran a mere one-and-a-half before exploding with enough force to take off a person’s hand.
There was never a clearer lesson not to wait for the whistle before throwing the sim.
Russian grenades c. 1970’s could be armed with fuses of various durations, including a 0.0 second fuse meant to be used in a grenade left for the opposition to find and, hopefully, attempt to use.
Grenades with different types of fuses were used in Germany during WWII as well - my dad would find peices of them every now and then. I think you could get fuses set for 15, 5, and 0 seconds, and I think they were color-coded… I know there was one that was 0 for sure, used for traps. The grenades seemed to come in 2 peices, and once one of my dad’s friends found part of one. He went and got a fuse for it somewhere, only he didn’t know what the color codings meant and thought he had a few seconds. Dad and his friends only saw the guy pulling the pin (or was it some kind of cord?), before they hit the ground. The kid ended up minus 1/2 and arm as well as various other injuries. Children growing up during wars aquire some unique experiences…
I think the next time the Army needs money instead of raising taxes or cutting other programs they should have an “open house” where people can come pay money to blow stuff up on their practice ranges.
Elwood: I beleive in China at one time (recently) you could go to an approved range and use almost any weapon for a fee. It was popular with Japanese tourists.
FWIW, I understand Japanese grenades in WW2 were notorious for poor quality fuzes. Some went off with the aforementioned 0.0 delay, while others had a delay of infinity (they didn’t go off at all.)
Unless there has been some huge technological advance in fuses for hand grenades the last thing you want to do with a live grenade is hold on to the sucker after the spoon has come off. If you do there is a fair chance that it will be the last thing you do! As the voice of experience I can tell you that once the pin has been pulled., after the lever has tripped, after the thing spends 1 ½ seconds in the air, the 3 ½ seconds you have left before it goes off barely gives you enough time to kick it into a grenade sump (assuming you had the foresight to dig one) and cower in a corner. It does not give you enough time to climb out of your fox hole without having your butt blown off. If a grenade comes in a hole with you the best thing that is going to happen is a temporary loss of hearing. The worst thing is something you don’t want to think about.