335
Weapons development at NCD (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 39 points 1 year ago

Weren't grenades originally the same size and weight as baseballs so that people would be used to throwing them?

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 41 points 1 year ago

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.

Wasn’t the construction of the old “pineapple” also more effective at generating shrapnel when it went off, too?

[-] Hank@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

I dove into the Wikipedia article about handgrenades. There's a common separation between offensive and defensive grenades. Those which cause shrapnel are usually considered defensive grenades as they're having a larger, unforseeable area of effect and because of that you want to throw it from a defensive, covered position. But often times offensive grenades which usually cause harm only through their shockwave could easily be upgraded with a metal cover that will provide a shrapnel effect.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
335 points (98.0% liked)

NonCredibleDefense

3529 readers
3 users here now

Rules:

  1. Posts must abide by lemmy.world terms and conditions
  2. No spam or soliciting for money.
  3. No racism or other bigotry allowed.
  4. Obviously nothing illegal.

If you see these please report them.

Related communities:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS