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Posted: 5/21/2013 5:54:59 PM EDT
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I saw this over in GD of all places and thought you guys might like to know about it.
Mini frag replica here. They are kinda cool and I have been thinking about ordering one just because. Credit goes to OnyxSkyDV for finding them and sharing the link. They are supposed to be all metal and he says they are nice quality. 
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IIRC, SOG was using Dutch V40 "mini-frags," and they would often carry a canteen pouch full of them.
ETA: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/weapons/a/agrenade.htm Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| The US stopped buying V40's in 2007. The ones I carried were early 90's manufacture. When I heard they were no longer purchased I asked a friend who is a frequent user and he said "we bought PLENTY". He went on to opine that it would be 5-10yrs before they ran out of V40s. |
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The US stopped buying V40's in 2007. The ones I carried were early 90's manufacture. When I heard they were no longer purchased I asked a friend who is a frequent user and he said "we bought PLENTY". He went on to opine that it would be 5-10yrs before they ran out of V40s. Weird, I wonder what drove the decision to stop buying them? Small effective radius? With how small they are I'm sure everybody has room to carry one or two, even on top of all their other stuff. |
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I used to make those years ago until Ebay made me stop selling them. They looked just like the actual ones, down to a working striker, primer & det tube, and markings. Vietnam reencactors were eating them up at $80 a pop.
This is one of my earlier ones. I was able to make a better cast and the later ones showed the detail of the matrix better. The one pictured also has a silver painted wood detonator well. I also replaced that with an aluminum one on my later ones.   
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Go on.... Do you still have the capability of making these? I still have about 3 unfinished ones in various stages of completion laying around here somewhere. My limitations are the metal spoon and head. I had someone in Japan making these for me in bulk, and in return I'd send him some finished ones. Well, between Ebay, and problems with Customs on both this side and in Japan, my supply dried up. It got to the point that it wasn't worth it any more. I was just too busy making these and other grenade replicas & landmine replicas. I was getting burned out. There is still a demand, as evidenced by this new guy making these. I suppose I could try to dig these up and see what I need to do |
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Go on.... Do you still have the capability of making these? I still have about 3 unfinished ones in various stages of completion laying around here somewhere. My limitations are the metal spoon and head. I had someone in Japan making these for me in bulk, and in return I'd send him some finished ones. Well, between Ebay, and problems with Customs on both this side and in Japan, my supply dried up. It got to the point that it wasn't worth it any more. I was just too busy making these and other grenade replicas & landmine replicas. I was getting burned out. There is still a demand, as evidenced by this new guy making these. I suppose I could try to dig these up and see what I need to do I'd rather buy re-pops from another retro forum guy, than some dude in Hong Kong. If you start making them again, I'm in for a few. And some M14 toe popper mines too! 
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you make/made dummy mines? more information? :-D I made the M16A1, M16A2, and M14 toe popper mines. The M14's are functional replicas. They rotate from safe to arm, I've made them spring loaded so they compress & return, the safety clip works & is removable, and the fuze well is removable. I did make some models that incorporated a bellville spring, which would "click" as the pressure plate was depressed, but that one was so much more work to do. The M16 series were filled with concrete to simulate the actual weight. The fuzes had removable safety pins, but the fuzes themselves weren't functional. I think that I still do have some M16 mines around, the M14's I'm not so sure of. Sorry about the large size, I didn't want to have to re-upload them to tinypic again. 
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you make/made dummy mines? more information? :-D I made the M16A1, M16A2, and M14 toe popper mines. The M14's are functional replicas. They rotate from safe to arm, I've made them spring loaded so they compress & return, the safety clip works & is removable, and the fuze well is removable. I did make some models that incorporated a bellville spring, which would "click" as the pressure plate was depressed, but that one was so much more work to do. The M16 series were filled with concrete to simulate the actual weight. The fuzes had removable safety pins, but the fuzes themselves weren't functional. I think that I still do have some M16 mines around, the M14's I'm not so sure of. Sorry about the large size, I didn't want to have to re-upload them to tinypic again. http://i44.tinypic.com/6hqecl.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/zk1fzq.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/dphle1.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/dokqps.jpg Dude...!! Those are fantastic! Please start making them again! I am ready to order! 
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you make/made dummy mines? more information? :-D I made the M16A1, M16A2, and M14 toe popper mines. The M14's are functional replicas. They rotate from safe to arm, I've made them spring loaded so they compress & return, the safety clip works & is removable, and the fuze well is removable. I did make some models that incorporated a bellville spring, which would "click" as the pressure plate was depressed, but that one was so much more work to do. The M16 series were filled with concrete to simulate the actual weight. The fuzes had removable safety pins, but the fuzes themselves weren't functional. I think that I still do have some M16 mines around, the M14's I'm not so sure of. Sorry about the large size, I didn't want to have to re-upload them to tinypic again. http://i44.tinypic.com/6hqecl.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/zk1fzq.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/dphle1.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/dokqps.jpg Dude...!! Those are fantastic! Please start making them again! I am ready to order!
What this guy said! |
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I took a look at the other items that they have, it looks like they took over where I left off. A great deal of my business was the Vietnam reenactors in Japan and Hong Kong, so it doesn't surprise me that that is where they are being produced. These were some examples of what I made/sold.
The two M34's on the left are actual inert M34's. They were demilled by punching a hole in the side to empty the WP. I patch them up and restore the fragmenting squares and then paint and remark them. The green is the later style, the grey the earlier ones. The little XM58 next to it is a resin body. This one has the correct location for the fuze as it is offset from center. The next one is an MkI illumination grenade, also resin with WWII era markings. Next is an MK3A2 offensive grenade, also resin. It has the correct texture to simulate the asphalt covered cardboard that the real ones have..The last one is an M67 replica. That is made from an earlier type practice M69 in which I filled the bottom hole. This is the only M69 body that I can use as the current M69's are not round and have a flatter "clam shell" look to them. All the replicas in which the fuzes are removable have the correct fuze. I attached real but empty detonator caps on them and sealed them with lacquer. The one for the M67 has a green lacquer, which is wrong (it should be red). The green is used for the practice black powder fuzes. In the background is a label for the blood albumin can. I would attach these to a painted civil defense water can as that can is the exact size as a real blood albumin can. The second picture is of an M26A1 (lemon) grenade. This is a real British L2 series body which is filled with a wax filler. It weighs the same as a loaded M26 series grenade but the fuze well is not as deep so I can't put a detonator cap on the fuzes for that one. This one could be cut open to display the fragmentation coil. All the fuzes on the grenades have the correct type & nomenclature stamped on them to reflect the ones that are correct for them, I don't just throw on any lever I find. I also stenciled the containers to match the grenade nomenclature. As you can see, all this led to problems with Customs and it got to the point where quite a bit was being seized, regardless of how I separated them. 
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I took a look at the other items that they have, it looks like they took over where I left off. A great deal of my business was the Vietnam reenactors in Japan and Hong Kong, so it doesn't surprise me that that is where they are being produced. These were some examples of what I made/sold. The two M34's on the left are actual inert M34's. They were demilled by punching a hole in the side to empty the WP. I patch them up and restore the fragmenting squares and then paint and remark them. The green is the later style, the grey the earlier ones. The little XM58 next to it is a resin body. This one has the correct location for the fuze as it is offset from center. The next one is an MkI illumination grenade, also resin with WWII era markings. Next is an MK3A2 offensive grenade, also resin. It has the correct texture to simulate the asphalt covered cardboard that the real ones have..The last one is an M67 replica. That is made from an earlier type practice M69 in which I filled the bottom hole. This is the only M69 body that I can use as the current M69's are not round and have a flatter "clam shell" look to them. All the replicas in which the fuzes are removable have the correct fuze. I attached real but empty detonator caps on them and sealed them with lacquer. The one for the M67 has a green lacquer, which is wrong (it should be red). The green is used for the practice black powder fuzes. In the background is a label for the blood albumin can. I would attach these to a painted civil defense water can as that can is the exact size as a real blood albumin can. The second picture is of an M26A1 (lemon) grenade. This is a real British L2 series body which is filled with a wax filler. It weighs the same as a loaded M26 series grenade but the fuze well is not as deep so I can't put a detonator cap on the fuzes for that one. This one could be cut open to display the fragmentation coil. All the fuzes on the grenades have the correct type & nomenclature stamped on them to reflect the ones that are correct for them, I don't just throw on any lever I find. I also stenciled the containers to match the grenade nomenclature. As you can see, all this led to problems with Customs and it got to the point where quite a bit was being seized, regardless of how I separated them.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2r5rome.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/2u6d6jo.jpg And you are getting back in to production when...???
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I need replica toepoppers, frags, and WPs... The problem that I have now is with any items that need molds, they only have a certain casting life and a storage life. The molds are either old enough or used up and I can't get quality castings from them. I'd have to literally start over from scratch. I think that I have extra M69 bodies so I should be able to make some more M67's. I don't have any more WP or lemon bodies so I can't make those but I could restore those if someone would have one in need of work. I may have a few V40 mini frags that need to be finished. The M14 toe popper seems to be what people are looking for. I probably should, at a minimum, make up a mold for those and start making them again. I'm afraid that if I do all that, that company will start making them and selling them at 1/2 the price of mine. That seems to be the only thing that they don't make yet. I can't make any promises, but should I start making things again, or find some completed items stashed away, I'll bump this thread and let you know. About the only thing I can do now are the M67's and restore others existing ordnance. |
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I maked M67 clones a few years ago.
They didn't look as good as these from East Asia Supply Co, but I think they were OK. I wrote the ATF asking for a ruling since in Texas a dummy grenade is illegal. It took 9 months to get a ruling from the ATF and by then I'd decided to not make them for resale. The ruling was in effect "We're okay with them, but your local laws may differ." I kept the best, gave one to a friend, and gave the others with holes in the bottom to my son and my nephews. They showed them to others and I had lots of requests to make more of them. Only a few people got the real good clones without the holes. I still have my stencils for marking the grenades and fuses. 
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| I am torn, in that I would like some stuff like this for display, but in the current political climate I am not sure having something like that around is a great idea. Not that I will ever be raided or anything, but that is clearly an ARSENAL even if it's not real. Get me? Sure would like a few M67s though for the collection. Just two repros would do me. |
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I am torn, in that I would like some stuff like this for display, but in the current political climate I am not sure having something like that around is a great idea. Not that I will ever be raided or anything, but that is clearly an ARSENAL even if it's not real. Get me? Sure would like a few M67s though for the collection. Just two repros would do me. like at gun buybacks when they receive inert AT4's and claim they got rocket launchers off the street. |
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Go on.... Do you still have the capability of making these? I still have about 3 unfinished ones in various stages of completion laying around here somewhere. My limitations are the metal spoon and head. I had someone in Japan making these for me in bulk, and in return I'd send him some finished ones. Well, between Ebay, and problems with Customs on both this side and in Japan, my supply dried up. It got to the point that it wasn't worth it any more. I was just too busy making these and other grenade replicas & landmine replicas. I was getting burned out. There is still a demand, as evidenced by this new guy making these. I suppose I could try to dig these up and see what I need to do TAG |
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