~ Evolution and Demise of the Rod Grenade ~

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The Rod Grenade concept is a vast and interesting field of study. A curious weapon, born of
necessity inspired by simplicity, abandoned due to its impracticality.
Widespread use in combat spanned only about 10 years (circa 1907 -1917). During that time it
was widely adopted by many countries and was made in a myriad of functional types, shapes and
sizes. A classic weapon of WWI.
While rod grenade types were still used after WWI (By the Spanish Republicans during the
Spanish Civil War and as a small pistol variant developed during WWII by the Germans.) the
concept had become obsolete.
While this presentation of rod grenades is very small, it will hopefully provide some useful
background for those new to the subject and to the aspiring collector. -ej

(Click the Picture to go to that Page)

Rod Grenades of WWI

Austro-Hungarian Zeitznder, 1st Model

Austro-Hungarian Zeitznder, 2nd Model
German Model 1914.
British No.3 Mk.I
British No.23 "Mills Bomb"
British No.24 Mk II
British No.35 Mk I
French Ball, Model Unknown
French Model 1915 (?)
Austrian Universal Hand or Rifle Grenade

The idea of using the rifle to discharge a grenade is a very old one. The School of Infantry
Museum at Warminster, England, has a flintlock musket on display called the "Tinker's Mortar",
dating from 1681. The rifle was placed on the ground, muzzle down. A special channel ran from
the flintlock pan to a cup built into the buttstock. A propellant charge was poured into a special
powder chamber in the cup. A simple grenade was the projectile, the flash of the propellant ignited
the fuze as it was fired. Other designs from the same time period, have a cup permanently attached
to the muzzle. A novel idea, but cumbersome and ineffective.

The rifle grenade concept was dormant for many years until 1907, when Martin Hale developed
the rod grenade. A simple rod was attached to a specialized grenade, inserted into the barrel of a
standard service rifle and launched using a blank cartridge. Though a simple approach, this
method placed an extreme amount of stress on the rifle barrel and the rifle itself, resulting in the
need to dedicate specific rifles to the grenade launching role, as they quickly became useless as an
accurate firearm. This lead to the search for an alternative and resulted in the reappearance of the
cup launcher during the latter years of World War I.
French Ball Rod Grenade - Mle. 1914 Hand Grenade Variant

This grenade type has recently surfaced from Europe. It appears to be based on the Mle. 1914 Ball
grenade as it has identical dimensions and thread. It is heavy for a rifle grenade and no doubt put a lot of
stress on the rifle when fired. It is doubtful very many of these were fielded.

Here is the rode grenade next to its Mle.1914 hand grenade counterpart.
The Mle.1914 was the last derivative of its type which began over 65 years earlier with the Grenade
Modle 1847, having the same 81mm iron ball but using a very simple wood plug fuze with friction
igniter.

For centuries, the classic hand grenade style was basically a small hollow iron sphere with a black powder
filler and some kind of rudimentary match fuze. The 1914 model shows improvements in the fuze design.
Both the rod and hand types are delay fuzed. The hand grenade uses a fiction igniter attached to a pull
ring. In use, a tether was attached to the user's wrist and connected to the ring. When thrown, the ring was
pulled after the grenade was on its way, a reflection of the unpredictable nature of grenade technology of
the time.

What is of interest here is that the rod grenade's fuze was initiated by the flame from the rifle round as it
passed up through the hollow rod. As far as I know this is the only rifle grenade with this kind of fuze
ignition system.

It probably wasn't that reliable as there is no vent in evidence at the grenade-end of the rod. One would
think that the flame would have a hard time finding its way to the fuze element do to back pressure. No
doubt that the rod was readily plugged with foreign matter as well.

The detonator tube has been cut from the rod grenade fuze, but it appears the bottom piece is pretty much
the same as the intact hand grenade example shown.
Austro-
Hungarian
Zeitznder
Gewehrgranate,
1st & 2nd
Variants
and Parts
Comparison
with the
Rohrhandgranate
These are Austro-Hungarian
Zeitznder ("time fuze") rod
grenades, used during WWI.
The serrated fragmentation type
is the first variant, the smooth
bodied grenade is the second
variant, the Model 16.
Both have the same inertial
pull-fuze. When fired, the
weight of the end piece would
pull the friction igniter,
automatically setting the time
delay. Also, by just removing
the rod, they could be used as
hand grenades... one of the
useful features of this type of
time delay fuze. (Total length 880mm)

The first variant is heavily segmented, both

out, one of the most dramatic grenades in th
The second model is very simple, just a pla
cylindrical casting. Apparently, extra range
goal for that version. Considering that the t
battlefield was very soft & muddy, this gren
probably wasn't very effective, as if it hit th
before detonating it no doubt buried itself q

A comparison of the Zeitznder rod grenad

made with its hand grenade counterpart the
Rohrhandgranate. The body style is identic
threaded at both ends, allowing different fo
pieces to be substituted so the center casting
configured to be either a rifle or hand grena
guessing this would usually be done at the
factory.This hand grenade example is stake
the plug of the wire handle. But this also co
been a configuration made in the field, depe
need. (A useful feature)
All things considered, this seems to be a pre
versatile design that was easy to manufactu
significant drawback however is its extreme
and cumbersome size.. Any additional info
corrections ?

One side note....

Apparently the nick-name "Guguruz" was applied to this grenade. There is no translation for this Austrian word.
Guguruz is a type of corn, the shape it somewhat resembles, so they named it that. Much like the American word
pineapple applied to fragmentation grenades.
Curious that hand munitions have had food related nick-names applied to them by solders around the world,
(i.e. pineapple, lemon, potato masher, pear, egg ... to name a few)

British No.3 Mk.I Rod Grenade

No.3 Mk I mounted on No.1 Mk III British Enfield Rifle

From the start, the British, under the direction of Martin Hale, designed
some of the most complex rod grenades ever fielded during WWI. Safety
was of paramount importance, and the No.3 Rod Grenade reflects this to
the extreme.

This grenade has an impact detonating fuze.

An internal weighted firing pin moves forward on contact initiating the
primer / detonator exploding the grenade. It slides inside a central tube,
but is held back in flight by a light creep spring.

Prior to firing, this firing pin is held in a locked safe position by two
mushroom shaped retaining bolts set in holes in the side walls of the
lower fuze housing. These bolts are retained by a threaded collar with a
windvane feature. The windvane is immobilized by a brass locking
sleeve, snapped in place below and secured by a safety pin.

To operate, the grenade is inserted in the rifle, and clipped to the muzzle.
The safety pin is then removed. When the grenade is launched, the sudden
acceleration causes the locking sleeve to set back, freeing the windvane.
Air flow causes the windvane to spin, unscrew and move downward,
exposing the buttons which fall out after the grenade has traveled a safe
distance. The grenade is now armed.

Production was halted in January of 1915 and further orders canceled. The
remaining stocks of grenades were used up or converted to a simplified
design. The updated grenade was designated the No.20 Grenade.

The No.3 Mk.I is arguably one of the most desired British rod grenades
today. It is not only sought by militaria collectors, but also by science
fiction fans who create and collect replica movie props. It turns out that for
the first episodes of Star Wars, the special effects prop makers used
various militaria, converted into futuristic looking weapons. Parts from the No.3 grenade were used
to fabricate various versions of the now famous "Light Saber". This has created an unusually high
demand for quality specimens of the No.3. Luckily there have been folks that make quality
reproductions of the appropriate parts, which apparently has helped fill the demand.

There are more than 20 separate mechanical parts making up a No.3 - all machined or formed - An
expensive proposition for a WWI era grenade! (Keep in mind that precision manufacturing was a
relatively new technology for the early 20th century.) Production was a time consuming and
expensive proposition.
On these two there are differences in the detonator cap
assembly, otherwise the remaining parts appear more or
less identical. Sometimes the locking bolts are brass as
apposed to steel.

Austrian "Universal" Rifle or Hand Grenade

Austrian "Universal" Grenade - Impact or Delay Fuze

An interesting example of an atte
field-configurable munition. I be
to be an early war development.

This multi-function grenade has

and delay fuze features. I'm not s
the diagram how this was used ex
it is a parts identification chart, n
manual.

Some features to note:

Internal propeller which extend

firing pin when air flows through
ports.

Safety pin soldered in the remo

brass cap which kept the propelle

Compressible nose assembly. O

it breaks through two thin metal
the sides and allows the firing pin
end of the prop to hit the percuss
but only if the prop has had time
and extend.

Combination belt clip and drog

"suspension hook". This was rem
and replaced with a rod for use a
grenade.

Internal fragmentation sleeve an

exploder tube.

Friction fuze attached to the sid

as a hand grenade.
While not having as many parts as something like the the British No.3 grenade, this is certainly is a complex dev
Features that surely interfered with it's ease of use was all the cloth and lanyard pieces. It's not clear what role the
parachute played in this. If used a rifle grenade it isn't attached, but if you are using it as a hand grenade its pretty
that one would not want a parachute attached when throwing it. I guess it was so you could use the impact fuze f
that prop would need to be pretty sensitive to the air passing thru when thrown. This specimen doesn't seem that
functioning, but it is a relic of course.
Any help on how this was actually used would be appreciated !

This is a lake recovered relic from the high mountain battlefields near the Austr
Italian border and spent many decades in frozen water which contributed to its well preserved condition The thin
metal cap has been deformed and split in four places lengthwise from ice expansion over the years. Rare to find
condition, especially with the cap.

French 1915 (?) Rod Grenade, F1 Variant

Here is a little known rod grenade.
It appears to have a French F1 body, with a fuz
resembles an Italian one, with a style like the B
No.25 Mk.I rod grenade.

Most likely French and probably an experimen

as it doesn't show up in any texts that I am awa

The spinner is partially threaded, so that after a half

dozen revolutions or so, the mating threads clear and
the shaft/firing pin is free to move rearward. A creep
spring keeps the pin away from the primer until
impact. The fuze body and base plug adapter are made
of brass, and the cast iron grenade is painted black.

Delhomme references this fuze in his French grenade

manuel on page 112, as "P2 Model 1915".
(Thanks Larry)

Here is a detail from Maurice Frei's fine book on Italian grenades.

Note the distinct similarities between it and the fuze on the French
grenade.
He describes his grenade as being fielded about the 1915-16 time
frame (if my French is good enough). So I'm guessing that the
French had access to Italian fuzes and came up with their own
impact type.
According to D. Lynn (G.R.M.) the British experimented with
their own version of this during 1916-17 (the No.25) so they may
have been playing with a copy of this idea..
Would love to hear opinions on this !

Illustration from:
Grenades a Main et a Fusil Italiannes 1914-1918
Maurice Frei
1994
Here are the piece parts to examine.
The detonator tube has the primer still intact, Looks like the base
plug of the det. tube has been removed and re-attached. There is a
"rattle" inside so I know it is empty.
One appealing design feature of this is the broad spinner. This
would help in soft ground as the grenade would detonate before
digging itself deep it the mud.
But this was late in the era of rod grenades and the whole concept
was soon to become obsolete.

British Mills No.23 Mk.I-II

The "Mills Bomb" No.23 was a rifle grenade adapta
predecessor the No.5 hand grenade.

Soon after the introduction of the No.5 during WWI

from the field indicated a multi-purpose hand or rifl
was needed. Using a modified base plug, designed t
short rod along with a simple cradle-style cup launc
solution was readily achieved.

Unfortunately, the basic flaw in the rod grenade ide

using it damages the rifle and its barrel. To minimiz
to the firearm, a short rod was used, but that reduce
effective range.

Then there is the requirement of a cup (in this case a

that needs to be attached to the rifle as well as the n
bayonet to lock the cradle to the rifle! The only savi
here is that the sights of the rifle are not obstructed
launching cradle.

The No.23 Rifle grenade was not in service long. It

replaced with the No.36 grenade which used a cup l
without the need for the rod.
Above, left to right are the No.5 with a typical base plug, the No.23 Mk I with an early threaded plug to accep
last a No.23 plug with reinforced rod mounting features.

British No.24 Mk.II Rod Grenade

The British No.24 Mk II represents roughly the mid-point in British rod grenade evolution.
Ease of production (low cost) and effective design were the driving factors. When compared to the No.3 you can
features incorporated to reach those goals.
The basic principal remains the same... a weighted firing pin restrained in flight by a creep spring, locked before
a pair of restraining bolts, held inplace by a safety collar. What has changed is the parts count and how they are
manufactured. Gone are the muzzle clip with its mounting screws and the wind vane. The central striker tube me
detonator housing half way, instead of nesting. The body is cast instead of machined, and the striker is smaller.

The parts count here is 15, down from 20 with fewer machined parts.

A side note about this example... the body has been repainted, and the creep spring and retaining bolts are cosme
reproductions (The spring here is copper, not spring steel as the original would be, still a very nice sectional disp

British No.24 Mk.II Rod Grenade

The British No.35 Mk.I is pretty much the end of the line in Rod Grenade development. While two more rifle gr
were to be developed... the No. 39 "Stewart" (An experiment with a different impact fuze.) and the No.44 Anti-T
(basically a very larger H.E. Warhead), this was pretty much as far as the concept was to go. It was around 1917
No.36 cup launcher was in development and the Germans had fielded their own cup launched grenade system ba
French V.B. design.

As with the others of this type, the basic principal hadn't

changed... a weighted firing pin restrained in flight by a creep
spring, locked before firing by a pair of restraining bolts, held in
place by a safety collar. The trends observed in the No.24
continued with ever more simplified design feature for ease of
manufacturing and reduced material requirements.

Inset is the parts detail from the No.24 grenade for reference. Note
the striker geometry has changed. This allowed the base plug to be
reduced in length by half, saving that always most strategic of war materials, copper. The set-back safety collar i
smaller and the safety pin now goes thought that and the base piece. The detonator housing is also simplified to a
copper swaged assembly.

The parts count here is 12, down from 15 with very few precision machined parts.

The body is marked with:"No.35" E" T, and the top ring and plunger are stamped G.T.L..

The red color is probably copied from the French (and Germans) signifying a practice round. The common pract
use live fuze/detonator assemblies without the H.E. filler. Often this meant the grenade body would still burst du
but there would be no significant fragmentation effect. Seems the Germans were the first to make practice grenad
holes in the bodies to vent the pressure. It seems odd that it took the rest of the world until W.W.II to figure that
good idea as well.

Imperial German Model 1914 Rod Grenade

German Model 1914 Rod Grenade with Ranging Disc

During W.W.I, rod grenade design fluctuated between the sim

complicated, always a struggle between ease of use, safety, eff
and cost of manufacture. No one design ever achieved the ultim
configuration. Of course the underlining "Achilles Heel" was n
what, they still trashed the rifles used to fire them.

One of the more technically advanced designs (In my humble o

this grenade. It rivaled many artillery rounds in its fuze design
certainly didn't lend itself to economical mass production. Still
own merits, this grenade exhibits a combination of features tha
experience proved useful:
Impact Fuze, with the entire mechanism
enclosed and protected.
Easy to Operate - remove shipping plug
from grenade, insert fuze & fire.
Range Control.

The unique Ranging Disc is used in one

of three modes. Removed for maximum
range, curved face forward for range or
as shown for range. The rifle was
always placed at one angle for firing
(typically 45 degrees), a useful feature in
the confined space of the trenches.

The fuze utilizes an interesting safety

feature. It consists of a releasing socket
holding a locking ball in place which
retains a striker with a folded firing pin
(needle). Upon firing the socket is pushed
down, overcoming a pair of bent flat
retaining springs, releasing the ball which
allows the nose/striker assembly to spring
up (big spring), freeing the striker to push
down (small spring) against the needle
unfolding and locking it. It is now armed
and functions as a simple impact fuze.

Sectional View Copyright 2002 Inert-Ord.net

While all very clever, rod grenades were still very hard o
rifles that fired them and were complex to make (incorpo
features desirable). By 1917 the rod concept was abando
favor of the cup launcher.

During WWII, however, this was re-visited in a small w

specialized grenades made for flare pistols (Wurfkrper)
a very large anti-tank grenade (3.7cm Aufsteck Geschoss
developed for the 37mm Anti-Tank Gun.