M67 fragmentation grenade shown in hand.
Source: US DoD -
© Public domain
The M67 is an early Cold War era hand grenade of US origin. The M67 was developed to replace the earlier M26 series. The M67 is smaller and lighter and can be thrown over longer ranges. The M67 was known as the M33 before the product improvement program. Reportedly the M67 has a shape and weight similar to a baseball, which would decrease training costs as many US soldiers would already be familiar with throwing a similar shaped object with accuracy.
The M67 is a defensive grenade. The M67 started out as the M33 and is essentially and M33 with additional safety clip. The M67 has a spherical body and features a large safety lever. The fuse is in the center and surrounded by explosive. The steel outer body will turn into fragments upon explosion. The M67 has a 4 to 5 second time delay fuse, which starts as soon as the safety lever is released. The M68 is a derivative with impact fuse.
The M67 is filled with Composition B explosive and the steel body will turn into splinters. The casualty radius is 5 m and wounding radius is 15 m. Fragments may reach as far as 250 m. The average soldier may throw the M67 out to 30 m and ranges of 40 m can be achieved.
The main user of the M67 and M68 grenades is the US military. It also has been exported to various nations, including Canada.
The M67 is a delay fragmentation grenade. It has a spherical body and large safety lever. The time delay is 4 to 5 seconds. The original designation is M33, when fitted with an additional safety slip it is called the M67.
The M68 is an impact derivative of the M67. At first it was known as the M33A1, later renamed as the M59 and when fitted with an additional safety clip it is called the M68. The body, filling, weight and dimensions are identical to the M67. The difference lies in the fuse, which is an impact fuse. The unusual feature is that this impact fuse has a time delay as backup. Should the grenade not explode due to the impact then after 7 to 9 seconds the time delay fuse will detonate the grenade.
The M69 is an inert training versions. Due to the US adoption of safety clips the M33 and M59 are uncommon compared to the widely proliferated M67.
M67 hand grenade.
Source: US Air Force -
© Public domain
© WeaponSystems.net | All rights reserved.