Original British WWI No.24 Mk I Rifle Fragmentation Grenade – Inert Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of one of the principal rifle grenades used by British forces during WWI, introduced into western front service in June of 1917. Offered in totally inert, BATF complaint non-functional condition. Not available for export.

This example is in very nice condition, and measures 16 inches in overall length, with a 9 3/4 inch bore rod and 3 3/4 inch long explosive fragmentation head, and a brass connector between it. The rod and body are in very good condition, showing very little oxidation or rust damage, though the head was painted at some point, and now has lost that on the raised areas. Most of the brass components are still present, except for the brass screw plug on the end of the grenade. The top of the grenade can be removed to inspect the explosive cavity, however the rest of the grenade does not disassemble.

Very hard to find, this is the first example we have had in years! Ready to display!

More on British WWI rifle Grenades:

The new rifle grenade N°3 inspired from the commercial percussion grenade Marten Hale appears in 1915. This design solved most of the safety issues associated to the rifle grenade N°2. However, if the ingenious mechanism based on the release of the safety chain by the in-flight air flow on a wind vane was efficient, it also induced too much manufacturing complexity and costs.

The rifle grenade n°20 Mk I, dated June 1917, is a simplification of the rifle grenade n°3, making it more economic and simple to manufacture, without scarifying anything on the safety side. Both the externally pre-fragmented steel body and the internal percussion detonator mechanism remain unchanged, but the safety wind vane is replaced by a simple sliding releasing socket pulled back by the departure momentum, blocked at rest by a safety pin.

A further simplification of the steel body machining was introduced later with the rifle grenade n°20 Mk II, whose pre-fragmented body was only having parallel circular machined grooves instead of the classical square pattern.

As all these kinds of projectiles, this rifle grenade was used inserting the tail rod inside a usual infantry rifle gun, but armed with a blank cartridge bullet-free. The accidental use of a conventional bullet was the main cause of incidents.

The rifle grenade N°24 Mk I is another June 1917 simplification of the rifle grenades series N°3 and N°20. Changes are only applied to the parts shapes and dimensions, but the way it worked was strictly similar to the preceding models, so that no specific training was needed for its use. The pre-fragmented body was machined with external circular parallel grooves only.

A further simplification was adopted suppressing every external fragmentation grooves with the rifle grenade N°24 Mk II, dated May 1918, whose cast iron body was smooth, all the other components being unchanged.