M26 grenade

The M26 is a fragmentation hand grenade developed by the United States military. It entered service around 1952 and was used in combat during the Korean War. Fragmentation is enhanced by a special notched fragmentation coil that lies along the inside of the grenade’s body.

About M26 grenade in brief

Summary M26 grenadeThe M26 is a fragmentation hand grenade developed by the United States military. It entered service around 1952 and was used in combat during the Korean War. Fragmentation is enhanced by a special notched fragmentation coil that lies along the inside of the grenade’s body. The grenades were stored inside two-part cylindrical fiberboard shipping tubes and were packed 25 or 30 to a crate. The M26 was developed as a result of studies on the Mk 2. Unlike its previous counterpart, its M204A1 fuse creates no tell-tale smoke or sparks when ignited and its powder train is almost silent while it burns down.

Its Composition B filler was considered safer than the flaked or granular TNT filling used in the MK 2. The original M26 replaced the Mk2 Fragmentation Grenade as Army standard issue in Korea. It was replaced by the M33 series grenade at the end of the Vietnam War. The M30 is the practice version of the M26 grenade. It had a cast-iron two-piece oval body with a plastic base plug.