Original U.S. WWII Inert MkII Yellow Early War High Explosive Pineapple Grenade with M10A1 Fuze

Original Item: Only One Available. Totally inert and demilitarized according to BATF guidelines with hollow body and inert fuse. This grenade cannot be converted to an explosive device and is not available for export.

This is an iconic U.S. fragmentation pineapple grenade issued during WWII. The Mk II was standardized in 1920 replacing the Mk I of 1917. It was phased out gradually, the U.S. Navy being the last users, on 2 April 1945 the Mk II and Mk IIA1 were re-designated the Mk 2 and Mk 2A1.

The Mk II was commonly known as a pineapple grenade, because of its shape and structure. Grooves were cast into the cast iron shell, which was believed at the time to aid in fragmentation and had the side benefit of aiding in gripping the grenade; this provision gave it the appearance of a pineapple fruit.

Pre-WWII high explosive-filled Mk 2s were painted bright yellow. During wartime (from about 1943 and after), grenades were over-painted in olive drab, leaving a narrow yellow ring remaining at the top. Not all were over-painted, however, as D-Day film footage shows.

In 1943, “Igniter- M10A3” was the designation that was adopted to differentiate this model with the M10A3 fuze from the grenades with earlier fuzes. Declared limited standard on 6 April 1944 with the adoption of the Grenade, Hand, Fragmentation, TNT, Mk. II. This example bears an unmarked fuse, which appears to follow the design of the M10A2, but without markings we cannot say for certain which model of fuse it is. There is a hole through the side which was likely part of the de-milling process.

The Mk.IIA1 could be found with either the earlier body with a filling hole or the newer body without filling hole. It was up to the manufacturer which body style was used.

This rare early war grenade bears an aged, darkened original yellow paint, original M10A1 fuse and pin. It is offered in very good condition with the expected paint wear. The original fuze reads:

FUZE M10A1
K LOT
3620 45

Genuine early war examples in yellow are extremely hard to find on the market today.

Comes ready to display.