The Sprengpatrone or ''"explosive cartridge"'' in English was a
rifle grenade that was developed by
Germany and used by the
Wehrmacht during
World War II. The Sprengpatrone was designed to be fired from a ''
Kampfpistole''
flare gun.
Design
The Sprengpatrone was a rifle grenade that could be fired from the Kampfpistole. The Kampfpistole was a
rifled
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the proj ...
single-shot break action gun and the cartridge was
breech loaded. The Kampfpistole was a rifled variant of the earlier
Leuchtpistole 34. The Sprengpatrone was designed to give German troops a small and lightweight grenade launcher for engaging targets from close range which could not be engaged satisfactorily by infantry weapons or artillery without endangering friendly troops. The Sprengpatrone was used for low angle
direct fire where range and accuracy were needed. It was not recommended for use beyond due to inaccuracy or less than due to the risk from shell fragments.
This grenade consists of an aluminum
cartridge case
A cartridge or a round is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile ( bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (usually either smokeless powder or black powder) and an ignition device ( primer) within a metal ...
, a
percussion cap in the center of the base,
black powder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
propellant charge, an internal steel projectile 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 ...
and was topped by a
nose fuze. The projectile had a rifled aluminum external sleeve which engages the rifling of the Kampfpistole barrel. The nose fuze contains a striker head that is held away from the detonator by six steel balls kept in position by a steel collar supported by three aluminum pins. A creep spring separates the striker and primer from the booster which is separated from the explosive filling by an empty air space. When the projectile hits the target the nose fuse ignites the primer which in turn ignites the booster and the explosives.
References
{{WWIIGermanInfWeapons
Grenades of Germany
Rifle grenades
World War II weapons of Germany