Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice pair of inert demilitarized genuine Japanese Type 97 Hand Grenades. One example is just the body with no fuze or lid, but the second example is a nearly complete example with fuse, fuse housing, and the pin. 

The complete example is offered in great condition, still has a fuse housing with the pin, cap, and the original detonator tube, rare! This is still attached to the screw off top, which can be removed. This example retains nearly all the red paint on the lid. The fuse on this example is actually marked with a Japanese date: 11. 三 十 昭. This marking is written right to left, and would be read: SHOWA (current reigning emperor) Juu-San Nen (13th year of reign - 1938) 11th month (November). 

The second grenade is just the body which is in good condition with some great retained white stamped markings on the bottom portion, and a Japanese tag on the very bottom, wow!

A great pair of Type 97 grenades, ready for display.

History and Development
The Type 97 was developed from the earlier Type 91 Grenade which could also be used as a fragmentation hand grenade, but was predominately used as munitions for the Type 10, and Type 89 grenade launchers. For this reason, it had less explosive power and a relatively longer delay time than a dedicated manual hand grenade. To address these issues, the Army Technical Bureau developed a new design in 1937.

Design
The Type 97 had the same principles as most of fragmentation grenades of the period: a grooved 'pineapple-shaped' segmented body which dispersed sharp pieces of shrapnel when it exploded. Operation was accomplished by first screwing down the firing pin, so that it protruded from the base of the striker. Then the safety pin was removed by pulling the cord to which it was attached; the protective cap which covered the striker was removed. A sharp blow against a hard surface, such as a rock or combat helmet would overcome a creep spring and crush a thin brass cap, allowing the pin to hit the primer and initiate the delay sequence before throwing at the target. However, in comparison with Allied hand grenades of the period, the explosive force of the Type 97 was weaker and, due to lack of an automatic ignition mechanism, the grenade in practice was found to be unreliable and even dangerous to use because of its inaccurate fuse.

Physically, the Type 97 was almost indistinguishable from the Type 91, except that it had no attachment on the base for a propellant canister. Paper labels with ink-stamped fill dates warned of the shorter 4-5 second delay.

Combat Record
The Type 97 hand grenade was issued as standard equipment to Japanese infantrymen in the Second Sino-Japanese War and throughout the various campaigns of World War II.

Totally inert, cannot be converted to an explosive device, not available for export. This item is completely legal within the USA. International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and Local laws. Everything for sale on ima-usa.com is completely legal to own, trade, transport and sell within the United States of America.

All deactivated ordnance sold by IMA, Inc is engineered to be inoperable according to guidelines provided by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF).