Grenades work by dispersing fragments ( fragmentation grenades), shockwaves ( high-explosive, anti-tank and stun grenades), chemical aerosols ( smoke and gas grenades) or fire ( incendiary grenades). The user removes the safety pin before throwing, and once the grenade leaves the hand the safety lever gets released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze (sometimes called the delay element), which burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge.
A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ('filler'), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, and a safety lever secured by a linchpin.
M67 fragmentation grenade, a modern (1968-present) hand grenade in the US.Ī grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called by the retronym hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher.
