Mk. II Grenade identification

[avenger]

I've noticed on the Mk. II grenade from WW2, some of them have casting lines that run across the bottom as a seam. And, some like the one I post below look to have been ground at some point. I also hear there have been attempts over the years for people to use filled in practice grenades or post war versions to paint and sell as WW2. Are there any good ways to identify (or discredit) a WW2 grenade from the look of the bottom?

Thanks!

[BillinVA]

The easiest way to differentiate a real MKII (or M21 - the practice version of the MKII) is by the fuze and threads.

There are a lot of cast iron novelty grenades on the market these days. I refer to them as "novelty grenades" because they never were real US military grenades, either fragmentation or practice - they were made for the non-military resale market. They are most commonly found as MK-style "pineapple" grenades but are mimic M26 "lemon" and M67 "baseball" grenades. All three of these novelty grenades tend to have M213 or M228 fuzes. The distinguishing characteristics of the M213 and M228 fuzes are a crooked spoon and the notch for the "jungle clip".

A real MKII uses an M10 series fuze (i.e., M10, M10A1, M10A2, M10A3) or an M6 series fuze. Likewise, the M21 (a practice grenade version of the MKII) practice grenade uses the M205 practice fuze which outwardly resembles the M10/M6 series.

The threads on the M10 series, M6 series, and M205 practice fuzes are the same; they are a different thread pitch than the M213 and M228 fuzes and they will not interchange.

A lot of these MKII-style novelty grenades bear the RFX marking which leads a lot of folks to tell you if it's stamped "RFX" it's a fake. True, RFX (Richmond Foundry) didn't make the MKII but they did make the M21 so you can't go off an "RFX" stamp. IIRC, Richmond Foundry didn't have anything to with making these novelty grenades; their M21 body was simply copied by whomever is/was making the novelty grenades.

[Walkwolf]

You could remove the fuse and along with a small
flashlight, peer down into the bottom.

Bill above provides the best info though, on the
real vs replica aspect of the fuses.........

[guns ltd]

Bill Hit the nail on the head on this one. You have a WWII one. Look at the fuse.


John

[avenger]

Thanks for the info guys! This is a huge help. I didn't buy this one because it's missing a few small pieces on the fuze part, but I'll get one eventually, and now know more on how to make sure it's a good one.

[guns ltd]

It looks like it is missing the hammer and spring. This is not uncommon as this is the way most are set up so they can not be rearmed.
This is a great example of this style of WWII Grenade.

John