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M26 hand grenade

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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M26 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenade
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M61 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenade, improved version of the M26

The M26 hand grenade was developed in the years right after World War 2. This was the first model of handgrenade which still used a cast iron body, but which enclosed either notched wire or shot to serve as the lethal fragments rather than the grenade body itself. This new type of grenade was much more reliable than the old Mk II Pineapple grenades. The M26 was developed and adopted by the U.S. Army just before the Korean War (1950) but since most units still had huge inventories of Mk II "Pineapple" grenades left over after World War 2, the M26 rarely saw action in the Korean War. Throughout the 1950s it was the issued hand grenade for all Army units, despite the fact that we still had huge leftover inventories of the MK II as well. In the early 1960s another improved version of the M26 was adopted, the M61. The M61 had a thin sheet metal body with a notched coiled flat wire and improved fuse.

The Vietnam War: Though the M61 was now the official new hand grenade of the U.S. Armed forces, the U.S. shipped tens of thousands of existing stock of Mk II Pineapple and M26 grenades to South Vietnam, for use by the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam). These were stored in huge military warehouses throughout the country and many M26s were provided to American troops in the field as well, despite the fact that all new grenade production was supposed to supply only the M61. But the massive increase in munitions requests resulted in a fast retooling of the older M26 line, so an updated M26A1 grenade was issued with a better fuse and explosive compound. Eventually the M26A1 slowed production and halted, as did the M61 when the newer M67 hand grenade production ramped up.

So you see a mix of M26/M26A1 and M61 hand grenades in use by American forces in Vietnam. Most authors of war books or military articles never bother to reveal the complicated munitions supply issues of the conflict, and most only refer to the M26 as the hand grenade of choice, despite the fact that it is more likely that the virtually identical M61 is really the hand grenade that was used.


The M26 hand grenade has appeared in the following films and television series used by the following actors:

M26 Hand Grenade

Film

Title Actor Character Note Date
Tomorrow, When the War Began Ashleigh Cummings Robyn Mathers 2010
Inception Ken Watanabe Saito With white paint 2010
Mercenary for Justice Langley Kirkwood Kruger 2006
Mercenary for Justice Vivian Bieldt Dekerk 2006
Mercenary for Justice Mercenaries 2006
The Siege Terrorist 1998
Lethal Weapon Danny Glover Roger Murtaugh Disguised smoke grenade 1987
Lethal Weapon Seen in crashed car 1987
We Were Soldiers Jsu Garcia Cpt. Tony Nadal 2002
We Were Soldiers U.S. Army soldiers 2002
Forrest Gump Gary Sinise 2nd Lt. Dan Taylor 1994
Forrest Gump U.S. Army soldiers 1994
Hard Boiled Chow Yun-Fat Tequila Yuen 1992
Tomorrow Never Dies Used as part of IED 1997
Platoon Robert "Rock" Galotti Huffmeister 1986
Platoon Kevin Dillon Bunny 1986
Platoon U.S. Army soldiers 1986
Casualties of War U.S. Army soldiers 1989
Bulletproof Darlanne Fluegel Captain Devon Shepard 1988
Die Hard 2 William Sadler Col. Stuart 1990
Die Hard 2 Terrorists 1990

Television

Actor Character Title/Episode Note Date
Michael Cudlitz Francis Goehring Criminal Minds / "Identity" 2005 - ????

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Mods Notation Release Date
Art of Murder: The Secret Files Non-playable 2010
Crysis Without pins or spoons 2007
Operation Flashpoint 2001
Grand Theft Auto IV With detonation warning tone 2008
Ghost Recon As the "FRAG" 2001
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter M61 2006
007: The World Is Not Enough As the "Fragmentation Grenade" 2000
007: The World Is Not Enough As the "Stun Grenade" flash-bang instead of HE-Frag With blue body 2000
Max Payne 2001
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames 2008
7.62 High Calibre M61 2008
Counter-Strike: Source 2004
Black 2006
Resident Evil 5 not usable 2009
Battle: Los Angeles 2011
WWII G.I. As the "Grenade" Becomes Mk 2 Hand Grenade when picked up 1999
War Inc. Battlezone 2011
Conflict: Vietnam Mk 26 Frag 2004
Project Reality: Vietnam M61 version 2012
Splinter Cell: Blacklist 2013

L2A2 Hand Grenade

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L2A2 High-Explosive Fragmentation hand grenade (Note different fuze design)

A variant of the M26 used by the British military, prior to the adoption of the L109 hand grenade. Aside from the markings, the other distinguishing feature is the fuze design, which is notably different from that of its' American counterpart.

Television

Actor Character Title/Episode Note Date
British Army soldiers Soldier Soldier 1991 - 1997

Video Games

Game Title Appears as Mods Notation Release Date
IGI 2: Covert Strike 2003
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix 2002
Project IGI: I'm Going In 2000