Original Item: Only One Available. Totally inert per guidelines provided by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) this is a wonderful display cutaway made from a German WWII 30mm Anti-Personnel rifle grenade. These were officially known as a Gewehr Spreng Granat 30 round, and this cutaway is offered in very good condition. The steel boy is painted yellow and features a bakelite fuse and bakelite base, which are no longer removable. The internal structures are all cut away as well, and have been painted on the cutaway side to aid in identification. The explosive charge has been replaced with a wooden replacement, surrounded with the original cardboard spacer.
The cutaway allows the entire firing mechanism to be seen, and was probably used in presentations or as a training aid. It now makes a lovely display piece, and would be a great centerpiece to any WWII ordnance collection.
The grenade would be used with a propellant cartridge and Schießbecher (shooting cup) grenade launcher to direct the projectile. Unlike many grenade launchers, the German launcher had a short rifled barrel with a caliber of 30 mm, which engaged the rifling ridges on the bottom of the bakelite grenade housing. The spin was thought to result in a more regular trajectory.