V-40 Mini Grenade: Difference between revisions

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The '''M26''' is an American fragmentation hand grenade introduced in the early 1950s as a successor to the World War II-era Mk 2. Its smooth, oval “lemon” body was intended to be easier to carry and throw while still producing effective fragmentation. It is best known as the basis for the M26-family grenades that were widely used by U.S. forces through the Vietnam War era.
 
'''V-40 Mini Grenade''' is a very small defensive fragmentation hand grenade developed in the Netherlands, commonly nicknamed the “mini-frag,” “golf ball grenade,” or “hooch popper.” It uses a conventional lever-and-pin fuze with a short time delay and a pre-scored steel body intended to produce controlled fragmentation. It is best known for being compact enough to carry in large numbers and for limited Vietnam-era use by U.S. special operations units.


==HISTORY==
==HISTORY==
The M26 was developed from postwar studies of the Mk 2 grenade, addressing complaints about inconsistent fragmentation and the conspicuous ignition effects of earlier fuzes. The M26 family used a safer and more uniform explosive filler (commonly Composition B) and a fuze design that avoided obvious sparks or smoke during function, improving both handling safety and tactical discretion. The M26 entered U.S. service in the early 1950s and saw combat use in Korea, gradually supplanting the Mk 2 as standard issue in many Army units while large leftover stocks kept Mk 2 grenades in circulation for years.
The V-40 was developed and produced in the late 1960s by Nederlandse Wapen en Munitiefabriek (NWM) “De Kruithoorn” as an unusually compact fragmentation grenade. The spherical body is notably small (around 40 mm in diameter) and uses internal pre-scoring to generate fragmentation while keeping overall size and weight low, paired with a typical delay fuze (commonly described as about four seconds). Production is generally described as ending in the early 1970s.


By the Vietnam War era, improved variants in the M26 family—often referenced through designations such as the M26A1 and related types—were among the primary fragmentation grenades used by U.S. forces in theater. As grenade designs continued to evolve, the M26 family was later replaced by newer U.S. fragmentation grenade patterns that became standard after Vietnam.
In Vietnam, the V-40 “mini-frags” were a special procurement item used by MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams and U.S. Navy SEALs from early 1969, valued because small teams could carry many grenades for breaking contact or close-quarters use. The same compactness also created handling drawbacks, with reports that the small lever could be difficult to manage with gloves and could be released inadvertently. Canada later adopted the V-40 for a period and eventually withdrew it in part due to these handling concerns.


===Sources===
===Sources===
* https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/land/m26.htm M26 Fragmentation Hand Grenade | Federation of American Scientists (Military Analysis Network)
* https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30023798 Grenade HE V-40 | Imperial War Museums
* https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m26.htm M26 Fragmentation Grenade | GlobalSecurity.org
* https://dn720003.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-hand-grenade-rottman/vdoc.pub_the-hand-grenade.pdf ''The Hand Grenade'' | Gordon L. Rottman (Osprey)
* https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/hand-grenade-fragmentation-m26 Hand grenade, fragmentation, M26 | National Army Museum
* https://assets.nmm.nl/app/uploads/2022/10/ARMAMENTARIA-44-part-1.pdf Armamentaria 44 (mentions V40) | Nationaal Militair Museum (Netherlands) (PDF)
* https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1213531 Hand Grenade, M26 (collection record) | Australian War Memorial
* https://old.weaponsystems.net/weaponsystem/BB01%20-%20V-40.html V-40 | Weaponsystems.net


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File:M26 Grenade.jpg|M26 fragmentation hand grenade.
File:RpOXbBStdFVaMU7Y8HD6lJRHpId64qlKmpK8bXYH.jpg|M26-series grenade in field context.
File:M26-hand-grenade.jpg|M26 “lemon” grenade profile.
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Latest revision as of 23:34, 24 February 2026

Factions Frag Grenades Icon Classes Ammo Explosion
Damage Radius

US
V-40 Mini Grenade		 Gun Game
Zombies		 1/2 100 275
Designation Weapon Type Fire Modes Throwing Range Weight
V-40 Grenade 3 Sec + 5 Sec 25 meters? 1 kg (2.2 lbs)
Full name Caliber Place of Origin Date Manufacturer Total Length Weapon Script Name
FN grenade United States Of America D8 ARM in ( mm) weapon_v40


V-40 Mini Grenade is a very small defensive fragmentation hand grenade developed in the Netherlands, commonly nicknamed the “mini-frag,” “golf ball grenade,” or “hooch popper.” It uses a conventional lever-and-pin fuze with a short time delay and a pre-scored steel body intended to produce controlled fragmentation. It is best known for being compact enough to carry in large numbers and for limited Vietnam-era use by U.S. special operations units.

HISTORY

The V-40 was developed and produced in the late 1960s by Nederlandse Wapen en Munitiefabriek (NWM) “De Kruithoorn” as an unusually compact fragmentation grenade. The spherical body is notably small (around 40 mm in diameter) and uses internal pre-scoring to generate fragmentation while keeping overall size and weight low, paired with a typical delay fuze (commonly described as about four seconds). Production is generally described as ending in the early 1970s.

In Vietnam, the V-40 “mini-frags” were a special procurement item used by MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams and U.S. Navy SEALs from early 1969, valued because small teams could carry many grenades for breaking contact or close-quarters use. The same compactness also created handling drawbacks, with reports that the small lever could be difficult to manage with gloves and could be released inadvertently. Canada later adopted the V-40 for a period and eventually withdrew it in part due to these handling concerns.

Sources

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Videos
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