Does the German Army still use potato masher grenades?

[Lancer]

I don't recall ever seeing any. I wonder how the flight characteristics compare to our pineapple grenades?

[Main_Brain]

a) Nope, the swiss used it until the 90s though.

b) The Range was much higher, they could be bundled together and did not roll far on slopes.

[TheStinger]

in Where Eagles Dare Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton found it very easy to throw them back at the Nazis

[Lancer]

Thank you for that MB. I wonder if they flew so much better, bundled and didn't roll why they were replaced?

Stinger, don't try that at home.

[Proteus_MST]

Maybe because they take more place to store, after all, I assume you could store 2-3 egg hand grenades in the place used for a single potato masher.

[Dr Strangelove]

Actually I was under the impression that they could not be thrown as far as the good ol' US pineapple. The potato masher has much worse aerodynamics than a spheroidal grenade. Which can you throw further, a baseball or a stick?

Furthermore I don't see why a potato masher would be less likely to roll down a slope. If it lands on its side it is certainly going to roll. The old style US grenades had a handle on the side which would have reuced the likelihood of rolling far.

The potato masher was originally designed to be tossed by assault troops a few feet over a parapet into a trench. The US hand grenade was created after rifle fired grenades were found to be so unreliable. As such it was designed to be a sort of very short range artillery. Since by 1917 baseball had become a nearly universal passtime for American boys most American troops could be handily trained to accurately throw a hand grenade at least 100 feet.

[Lancer]

Good point Proteus, more bangs per bag.

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Actually I was under the impression that they could not be thrown as far as the good ol' US pineapple. The potato masher has much worse aerodynamics than a spheroidal grenade. Which can you throw further, a baseball or a stick?

Furthermore I don't see why a potato masher would be less likely to roll down a slope. If it lands on its side it is certainly going to roll. The old style US grenades had a handle on the side which would have reuced the likelihood of rolling far.

The potato masher was originally designed to be tossed by assault troops a few feet over a parapet into a trench. The US hand grenade was created after rifle fired grenades were found to be so unreliable. As such it was designed to be a sort of very short range artillery. Since by 1917 baseball had become a nearly universal passtime for American boys most American troops could be handily trained to accurately throw a hand grenade at least 100 feet.

My impression was that the handle was used as a sort of attached sling allowing the grenade to be leveraged into the air. Likely the handle contained the fuse. Maybe that left more room in the canaster for explosive. Don't know which was the more powerful that way. The pineapple could certainly be tossed like a baseball but it is considerably heavier.

[Patroklos]

The handle gave better leverage and this let you throw it farther and more acurately.

When it landed on a slope, since the warhead side was heavier and with a greater diameter, that side would roll faster and thus rotate it so that cylinder was not positioned to rotate further.

The US doesn't use the pineapple grenades anymore.

[Lancer]

Really? What do they use, melon grenades?

[Dry]

Wiki says:

The Model 24 could be thrown approximately 30-40 yards, whereas the British Mills bomb could only be thrown about 15 yards.The design also minimized the risk of the grenade rolling downhill back towards the thrower when used in hilly terrain or in urban areas.

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Actually I was under the impression that they could not be thrown as far as the good ol' US pineapple. The potato masher has much worse aerodynamics than a spheroidal grenade. Which can you throw further, a baseball or a stick?

Aerodynamism is irrelevant at the speed these objects are flying.
A heavy load at the end of a stick can be thrown with a small sling affect. The handle of the potato masher made it not only is easier to graps, but provided a small arm extension that slightly increased the range.

Furthermore I don't see why a potato masher would be less likely to roll down a slope. If it lands on its side it is certainly going to roll. The old style US grenades had a handle on the side which would have reuced the likelihood of rolling far.

Cone vs cylinder. Circumference at one end was different than at the other end. The potato masher would not roll all the way down.

The potato masher was originally designed to be tossed by assault troops a few feet over a parapet into a trench. The US hand grenade was created after rifle fired grenades were found to be so unreliable. As such it was designed to be a sort of very short range artillery. Since by 1917 baseball had become a nearly universal passtime for American boys most American troops could be handily trained to accurately throw a hand grenade at least 100 feet.

From my point of view the main difference between pineapple and potato masher is the storage capacity.
How many potato mashers could a german soldier carry (and with what ease), compared to how many pineapple can you carry?

[Dr Strangelove]

The fuse was indeed in the handle. The potatoe masher was activated by pulling a pin at the end of the handle.

Who cares how far British troops could throw a British grenade? Maybe they'd have gotten more distance if they kicked it. American troops throwing the US grenade could routinely chuck it better than 100 feet.
While you might get a bit of a leverage effect from the handle of the German grenade it's also going to tumble in the air, increasing air resistance. Furthermore the German grenade was heavier.

[BlackCat]

I assume that that 100 feet are done from a standing position and that is usually a bit unhealthy if those at the reciving end know you are there.

Wonder how the two types perform from a lying down/kneeling position.

[Tattila the Hun]

It's also cooler looking.

[Main_Brain]

The Fuse was in the Handle until the later WWII years.
The Stielhandgranate's Design was changed to allow easier manufacturing at that Time. (Explictly to not have to drill the Wooden Shaft)


Weight of MK 2 Grenade: 0,6kg-0.057 kg TNT
Weight of Stielhandgranate 24: 0,48kg- 0,165 kg Explosive


General Consent of best usage seemed to be:

Open Field: Stielhandgranate
Urban/Wood: Egg-shaped Grenade

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Main_Brain
... Stielhandgranate...

I love the Germanic "Manywordscombinedintoone" spelling.