Another example of failed journalism - "Grenades seized by border fence in Mexicali"

[slackmaster]

Suspects say the bags were tossed over from Calexico

Two suspects captured late Monday with nearly 200 grenades in Mexicali have allegedly told authorities that the devices came over the border fence from Calexico....

...Weapons purchased in the United States and smuggled across the border have been used to commit much of the drug violence in Mexico in recent years, according to Mexican authorities. The U.S. government has placed random checkpoints at border crossings with Mexico to inspect for weapons hidden inside southbound vehicles.

Full copyrighted article at http://m.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/12/bags-grenades-seized-border-fence-mexicali/

slackmaster comments:

Conspicuously missing in this piece is any mention of the fact that one cannot simply walk into a sporting goods store (or a gun show) in the US and buy grenades or grenade launchers. The wording "purchased in the United States", in absence of additional information, would give a naive reader the impression that grenades are available on the retail market here, and propagandists will suggest that our country's weak grenade-control laws are contributing to Mexico's problem of violent crime.

If the items are of US origin, and I have no reason to doubt that, they were purchased once upon a time, lawfully, by military or law enforcement unit, or the National Guard. They were at some point STOLEN from the government agency that owned them, then smuggled into Mexico.

This is typical of the weak reporting that gets twisted into propaganda by political extremists who want to ban guns or ammunition.

[sudopod]

1. The horror! nt

[ileus]

2. LOL doesn't everyone buy DD's and toss them over the fence?

Oh yeah that's right....NO.

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. I was unaware that border fences had thumbs!

Cheers!

[Katya Mullethov]

4. Weak reporting twisted into propaganda ?

That's mighty generous , Slack . I heard the ATF has encountered some "recent criticisms" as well .

[slackmaster]

6. The San Diego Union-Tribune was sold to new owners last year. They've cut costs.

The quality of their reporting has really taken a nose dive.

Context, in case you are interested.

[WatsonT]

5. Someone will be along shortly to explain why we must

shut the gunshow loophole to keep grenades out of the hands of drug runners.

[one-eyed fat man]

7. Now that is really curious.

The M67 grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the United States Military. This is the current grenade and has been in use since the 1970's. It also exhibits the standard color code of an OD body with yellow markings indicating "High Explosive"



The M26 series was the primary fragmentation grenade used by American forces in the Vietnam War. The grenade picture the "5-69" date code is prominent. The M61 grenade is basically an M26 grenade with the addition of a clip on the lever as secondary to the "pin" as on the M67 above.



This is what the average person pictures in their mind when anyone mentions hand grenade. The Mk II defensive hand grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the U.S. armed forces during World War II and Korea. The Mk II was standardized in 1920 and was phased out gradually, the U.S. Navy being the last users early during Viet Nam. The fuze on this grenade emitted smoke and sparks which were quite visible at night. It was one of the shortcomings that spurred the development of the M26 series in the late Fifties.

That also pretty much looks like what is on the table. A bunch of 60 or 70 year old hand grenades...maybe.



This is a practice grenade used for training. It is readily identified by the fact it is hollow with an opening in the bottom. The blue "INERT Training Use" paint might be thin or long gone. RFX stands for Richmond Foundry & Mfg. Co. Inc., sole caster of the grenade's body. The fuses unscrew and are replaceable. In use the trainee would pull the pin, the fuze would function and after roughly a 5 second delay the cap would explode with an audible report and a puff of white smoke. After the exercise the bodies would be recovered, the expended fuzes unscrewed and new practice fuzes installed for the next iteration. There are also versions which replicate the M26 and the M67 series grenades. The grenade body can be used repeatedly by replacing the fuze assembly. The fuze has a pale blue handle with brown tip indicating "Training Use-Low Explosive"



Could a practice casting be fabricated into a usable "improvised explosive device?" Most certainly, so could a piece of water pipe wrapped with nails, but it doesn't make as impressive a picture.

[cognoscere]

8. The fuse assemblies on my grenades don't have any openings where

smoke or sparks could exit, so I wonder if that explanation is incorrect. Besides that, if it's the fuse that's a problem, redesign it(which is what they would have to do to avoid the problem with any new grenades). A more plausible reason would be that the newer grenades are made of stamped steel cases and contain serrated steel wire/bands for the fragments - would be substantially cheaper and faster to make than casting iron.

[one-eyed fat man]

9. Grenade fuzes

The original fuze used on the Mark II resembles current fuzes, and worked the same way. The striker is released when the lever moves. The striker hits a primer that looks like the primer on a cartridge which, in turn, starts the delay charge to burning.



The cup on the primer of the Mark II often ruptured upon detonation permitting the smoke and sparks from the black powder delay train to escape. The World War 2 and Korean War vets I served with in Viet Nam mentioned it. During my tours in Viet Nam Mark II's were not commonly seen. They were filled with flake TNT, and had a characteristic dense black smoke on detonation unlike the cast Comp B filler of the newer grenades.

That was only one of the Mark II's shortcomings. Despite the serrations of the cast iron body, they did not fragment uniformly and sometimes produced fragments big enough to be a real hazard to the thrower of the grenade.

The M26 was was designed to have shrapnel that was much smaller with the desired effect of a more uniform and predictable pattern. The desired bursting radius was 15 meters so as to be less of a hazard to the thrower than the old Mark II.

More info on the current crop of grenades at the link.

Hand Grenades