Hand grenades are nothing more than small bombs,containing explosives or chemicals, that can be thrown by hand or rigged as booby traps. Their origin has been traced back many centuries, and it is generally agreed that the Chinese, whom we credit with the invention of gunpowder, were first to use them. However, it was not until World War I that they were sufficiently developed to be effective and safe. By World War II, the grenade inventory expanded to include smoke grenades for signaling and screening, phosphorus and fragmentation grenades to produce casualties, and gas grenades for both casualty and riot control effects. The grenades being used today are in many respects representative of the entire history of the development of grenades.
There are several varieties of hand grenades designed for many purposes. All of these grenades can be broadly classified into six general types: fragmentation, illumination, chemical, incendiary, smoke, and practice and training grenades.
The M67 fragmentation grenade is the standard grenade used by the U.S. Military. It has a smooth, sheet-metal body and is shaped like a ball. Its outer case is lined on the inside with a serrated wire recoil. It is filled with 6.5 ounces of an explosive, known as Composition B, and uses a detonating type of fuze. When the detonator causes Composition B to explode,fragments of the body and fuze assembly are hurled in all directions. The M67 weighs 14 ounces and the average man can throw it 40 meters. The effective casualty-producing radius is 15 meters.
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