335
Weapons development at NCD
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
335 points (98.0% liked)
NonCredibleDefense
3529 readers
2 users here now
Rules:
- Posts must abide by lemmy.world terms and conditions
- No spam or soliciting for money.
- No racism or other bigotry allowed.
- Obviously nothing illegal.
If you see these please report them.
Related communities:
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Weren't grenades originally the same size and weight as baseballs so that people would be used to throwing them?
WWI German grenades had sticks, which increased range a lot at the expense of accuracy.
Americans, raised on baseball, were able to get the pineapple grenades into impossible holes, which made them a lot more effective than the German-style grenade.
I actually heard that reasoning as well but after I read into it I came to the conclusion that this is most likely false. Roundly shaped grenades have been around for centuries and the first introduction of a pineapple-shaped grenades was by the Brits in WW1.
Also a grenade is around three times as heavy as a baseball.
But it makes sense that Americans were/are especially good at throwing grenades because of baseball.
Yeah, grenades and baseballs are the same size for the same reason: It's about as big a shape as a person can hold and throw far with a lot of accuracy. It was just a happy coincidence that my grandfather was both on a winning Little League team and the Nazis loved pillboxes with tiny holes. He was part of the 14th Armored and could probably land a grenade in a pillbox from a hundred feet away just like throwing someone out at home from left field.
Round grenades=throwable. Stick grenades=throwable and you have to carry a big fuck off stick too.
Would you rather have more grenades or have your current grenades come with a stick?