Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a rare cup discharged rifle grenade! Information is about as rare as the grenade itself, but what we did discover is that this is an East German RGD-5 practice grenade, repainted green. To keep the known German pattern, this practice grenade has the respective cut holes and was originally red.

Unloaded or dummy grenades, artillery shell casings, and similar devices, which are cut or drilled in an BATF-approved manner so that they cannot be used as ammunition components for destructive devices, are not considered NFA weapons. This example is in total compliance and is NOT AVAILABLE FOR EXPORT.

After World War II, Germany was split into East and West. East Germany maintained close ties to Russia and the Warsaw Pact Nations, while West Germany was aligned with NATO. This made Germany a focal point of the Cold War. The contentious situation forced the East Germans to build and maintain a strong and well armed military which eventually led to agreements with the Russians to produce their own Kalashnikov rifles under license in 1957.

The German Democratic Republic (GDR) began initial development of the Kalashnikov in 1958 in the Weisa (Weida) Factory, a small town in Thuringia Germany, in the Erz (Erzgebirge) mountain region, about 2 hours East of Suhl, the more common small arms producer of the GDR (VEB Ernst-Thalmann-Werk Suhl). The Weisa Factory (VEB Gerate-Und Werkzeugbau Weisa) was a sub factory of the Suhl plant that operated under the same "VEB" banner, which means "People Owned". This was likely to help mask the true nature of its operations. More on that in a minute. Manufacturing of several small parts were outsourced to other factories throughout East Germany but the primary assembly of Kalashnikov rifles was done at the Weisa Plant.

As you can see from the design of this rifle grenade, it’s very Soviet in appearance. The warhead itself is essentially a thicker version of the RGD-5 grenades, however there is a fin stabilizer assembly and a “cup” on the bottom to better create a seal. As stated above, the grenade was originally red and can be seen on the interior, however this was painted in the standard “Soviet Green”, more than likely done so by a previous collector who wasn’t aware of the origin.

No collection is complete without that one mysterious piece of ordnance on display! Comes more than ready for further research and display.