Original Item: Only One Available. This is an inert BATF compliant German WW2 30mm Anti-Tank rifle grenade round offered in very good condition, complete with the original cardboard case. Additionally, the grenade has been made into a "cutaway" model, showing the entire internal structure, which has been painted to highlight the edges and various parts. The case itself also still has the original markings of gr.G.Pzgr / W 57. Examples such as this make great display pieces!

Known in German as the Große Gewehrpanzergranate, (a.k.a the Model 40) HEAT rifle grenade developed by the German Wehrmacht. It has a 45-39mm tapered shape charge warhead and was the preferred Anti-Tank rifle grenade. It could penetrate 70mm of armor (regardless of range, as it was a shaped charge). It has a sheet metal warhead body with a mounted nose cap. The base fuze is inside a Bakelite shaft.

The base fuse unscrews and is in the safe (before firing) condition. As with the AZ5071 PD fuze, the safety device is a coiled flat spring nested in a releasing socket. This safety provides a secure block between the needle and detonator. The releasing socket is held in place by a stout helical spring. When fired, inertia pushes the releasing socket down against the helical spring and locks in a compressed condition. The coiled safety is freed and expands to the inside wall of the shaft clearing a path for the entire striker assembly to move forward on impact initiating the detonator. There is no creep spring, so unexploded ordnance was in a delicate condition.

The grenade would be used with a propellant cartridge and Schießbecher (shooting cup) grenade launcher to direct the projectile. Unlike many grenade launchers, the German launcher had a short rifled barrel with a caliber of 30 mm, which engaged the rifling ridges on the bottom of the bakelite grenade housing. The spin was thought to result in a more regular trajectory.

This example is offered in very good condition, with the internal shape charge housing still intact inside the warhead (except for the cutaway portion), and a good amount of the original finish present. The bakelite is intact, and a lovely color, with intact rifling grooves, and the case is also in great shape. Ready to display!