German WWII Grenade Pistols
I have blogged about the German grenade pistols before. They were an intriguing segue in the history of firearm development which was not really revisited until recently with the development of small caliber 20mm and 25mm grenades. The WWII In Color forum has some very interesting photos of various Sprenggranate Leuchtpistole ("explosive-round signal pistol") designs. Here are a few of the more interesting pictures ...
Sturmpistole with stock. Note the interesting grenade sights.
Wurfkörper 326
This pistol was found in an evidence locker in Elma, WA.
[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]
The Z marked flare pistols were exclusively made of steel and due to their rifled barrels would not chamber a flare cartridge so technicaly they were grenade launchers not flare pistols and therefor illegal in many states. later 22mm rifled and unrifled inserts were designed to launch shaped charge antitank grenades and m39 egg grenades useing 26.5mm smooth bore flare pistols , alluminum , zink & steel
WOAH! Hold the bus a minute. Take a deep breath and think.
IF that signal pistol had been used or brandished as a weapon then it became a weapon instead of “just a flare launcher”. And as such it would be confiscated.
Then there are four possible dispositions;
1) the court will order it to be held and disposed of later as directed
2) the posessor will relinquish all rights to it and it then becomes abandoned property
3) the court will order it returned to the proper owner and it is claimed and taken away
4) the court will order it returned to the proper owner and it is NOT claimed. In which it eventually becomes abandoned property.
That Walther Model Z from Elma, WA. is an early all steel model. Most wartime Model Z were made of Aluminium/Zinc, to be both lighter and rust resistant.
WWII era weapon recently found in an evidence locker…
I always wondered how long the police would hold onto my weapons if they were ever confiscated… Now I have a pretty good idea.
That second one is interesting, in that it was found in an evidence locker. I think it’s a Walther 27mm signal pistol, which could fire flare, smoke and HE rounds. A lot like the M79 in smaller form, I guess.
It being “evidence” makes me wonder; I am guessing someone’s house was searched and this “looked like a dangerous weapon” and was nabbed. Unless they had HE rounds for it, it’s just a flare launcher.
Heya, Steve!
No the second photo, with the Sturmpistole mounted under the MP44′s barrel, and the RPK looking thing, is a fake. This is cropped from a larger picture showing a variety of fictional MP44 models: folding stocks, compacts, light machine gun, etc.
Russ, ah thanks! I will remove it.