The Model 1914 grenade (''Ручная граната образца 1914 года'' > ''Ruchnaya granata obraztsa 1914 goda'', "Hand Grenade Pattern of year 1914") is a Russian stick concussion grenade (

fragmentation grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

via an optional jacket) that was used during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Operation

The M1914 is a time-delayed grenade. To activate it, the user must hold the grenade with 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 A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

went from a box to a

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infi ...

, the wooden handle was removed in favor of a welded sheet of metal and the belt hook was removed.

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 An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reage ...

. TNT was a common explosive in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

grenades at the time, as seen in grenades such as the F1 grenade and RGD-33 grenade.

World War II

The M1914/30 also saw use in

, but it was eventually replaced by the RGD-33 grenade as the Soviet's primary stick

. The Axis forces used captured M1914/30 grenades, which they classified as the HG 336(r), or ''Handgranate 336'' (''russische'').

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.

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.

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 Chloropicrin, also known as PS and nitrochloroform, is a chemical compound currently used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, and nematicide. It was used as a poison gas in World War I. Its chemical structural for ...

, which is an irritant. The M1917 can be told apart from the M1914 because it is larger than the M1914 and has a

skull and crossbones A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones. ...

on it with the Russian word for chemical underneath the image.

Fragmentation Sleeve

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

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

Pictures of the M1914 and its fragmentation sleeve

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 World War I Russian infantry weapons World War II infantry weapons of the Soviet Union Hand grenades of the Russian Empire Hand grenades of the Soviet Union Concussion grenades ru:РГ-14