The Gewehr-Sprenggranate was a high-explosive

rifle grenade A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade were thrown by hand. The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used dur ...

that was developed by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and used by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Design

Schiessbecher_&_rifle_grenade_(Gewehr_Panzergranaten)

The Gewehr-Sprenggranate was launched from a Gewehrgranatengerät or Schiessbecher ("shooting cup") on a standard service rifle by a blank cartridge. The Gewehr-Sprenggranate consisted of a tubular steel body filled with

PETN Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...

, a rifled driving band, a nose impact fuze, a friction igniter, and a time fuze. The fuze and base assemblies are not integral parts of the grenade but are screwed into the center of the nose and base. When the rifle is fired the flash from the blank cartridge enters a hole in the base of the grenade which starts both a friction igniter and a time fuze. The grenade will then detonate on contact by the impact fuze, detonate after 4.5 seconds by the friction igniter or detonate after another 6.5 seconds by a time fuze for a total of 11 seconds. The grenade may also be used as a hand grenade by removing the base assembly and pulling a cord attached to the friction igniter.

References

{{WWIIGermanInfWeapons Grenades of Germany Rifle grenades World War II weapons of Germany