Page 18 - History of War - Issue 10-14

FRONTLINE

Frontline
ANATOMYOFAM67GRENADE

Crack open an armed explosive to see the intricate mechanism of this
highly destructive weapon of war

Cap
COOKING
Safety pin ThefuseofanM67isaround4-5
seconds. To avoid it being thrown
Pull ring back, the frag is sometimes held for
longer. ‘Cooking’ is often discouraged
SAFETY though as fuses cannot be 100 per
To prevent accidental removal cent reliable in their timing.
and detonation, the pull ring is Fuse holder
diamond shaped with a safety clip
at a 40-degree angle. An upgrade Striker spring EXPLOSIVE
knownastheM68hasabackup Each grenade
impact fuse in case of non- contains 170
detonation when thrown. grams (six ounces)
of the explosive
Composition B. This
isamixofRDXand
TNT and has been
the standard filler
MARKINGS since World War
The M67 hand Two, although it is
grenade is usually an now being gradually
olive colour to blend phasedoutbynon-
into its surroundings TNT alternatives.
andreducethe
chance of it being
found and thrown
back.Italsousually
hasasingleyellow
band as standard. Delay

Percussion cap
Cast iron shell
Composite B explosive

FUSE
Detonation is activated
when the ring is pulled,
disabling the safety
pin and lever. Inside
the grenade, the fi ring
pin strikes against the
Safety lever percussion cap after the
4-5 second delay, igniting
the M213 fuse. If the
safety is still in place, the
process can be stopped.
Detonator / ignitor BLAST
When thrown, the fragmentation grenade disintegrates and
shards of metal shoot in all directions to accompany the initial
blast. When you hear ‘frag out’, you have to scarper quick, as
thisshrapnelcanreachadistanceof230metres(755feet)!

USA, 1971-present “Whenyouhear‘fragout’,youhave
Fuse M213 pyrotechnic delay
Explosive Composition B toscarperquick,asthisshrapnel
Throwing range 35 metres (115 feet)
Blastradius15metres(49feet) canreachadistanceof230metres”
Fragmentation radius 230 metres (755 feet)

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