Model 1914 grenade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Model 1914 grenade

Russian model 1914 stick hand grenade
Type Hand grenade
Place of origin Russia / Soviet Union
Service history
Used by Russian Empire, Soviet Union
Wars World War I, World War II
Production history
Designer Vladimir Rdultovsky[1]
Designed 1914
Produced 1914-?
Variants M1914/30 (different explosive), M1917 (chemical grenade based on M1914's design)
Specifications
Weight 500g (M1914), 590g (M1914/30),[2] 780g with fragmentation sleeve
Length 235mm
Diameter 45mm

Filling Picric Acid (M1914), TNT (M1914/30)[3]
Detonation
mechanism
Time-fuse, 4-5 seconds[2]

The Model 1914 grenade (Ручная граната образца 1914 года) is a Russian stick concussion grenade (fragmentation grenade via an optional jacket) that was used during World War I and World War II.

Operation

The M1914 is a time-delayed grenade. To activate it, the user must hold the grenade so that the safety pin between two fingers, move the safety catch so that it is away from the hammer's front, then throw it. The safety pin is released as soon as the grenade is thrown.

History

Origins

The M1914 is a heavily modified Model 1912 grenade. The head of the grenade went from a box to a cylinder, the wooden handle was removed in favor of a welded sheet of metal and the belt hook was removed.[3]

World War I

The M1914 was one of the few grenades used the conflict that was in service before the war started. It was used throughout the war, along with the Stender grenade, by Russian forces until Russia withdrew from the conflict in 1917.

Inter-war

In 1930, the M1914 was modified to use a different explosive, TNT. TNT was a common explosive in Soviet grenades at the time, as seen in grenades such as the F1 grenade and RGD-33 grenade.

World War II

The M1914 also saw use in World War II, but it was eventually replaced by the RGD-33 grenade as the Soviet's primary stick grenade.[3]

Post-World War II

After World War II, the M1914 was completely retired in favor of other designs, such as the RGD-5 grenade. However, inert versions of the M1914 were used for training up until the 1980s.[4]

Variants

M1914/30

The M1914/30 is a variant of the M1914 that uses TNT instead of Picric Acid. Otherwise, it is exactly the same as the M1914.[3]

M1917 Chemical

The M1917 is a modified and larger M1914 that expels chemical gas when it "detonates". The primary chemical agent in this grenade is 500g of Chloropicrin, which is an irritant.[3] The M1917 can be told apart from the M1914 because it is larger than the M1914 and has a skull and crossbones on it with the Russian word for chemical underneath the image.[3]

Fragmentation Sleeve

The M1914 has an optional fragmentation sleeve that turns the M1914 into a fragmentation grenade.[5] The sleeve's pattern was later used on the RGD-33 grenade's fragmentation sleeve.

See also

References

Sources

  • А. А. Благонравов, М. В. Гуревич. Боеприпасы стрелкового вооружения. Патроны, ручные и ружейные гранаты. Их устройство. Ленинград, издание военно-технической академии РККА имени тов. Дзержинского, 1932. - 210 стр.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.