Original Item: Only One Available. The No 2 grenade (also known as "Hales Pattern" and "Mexican Pattern") is a percussion cap fragmentation and rifle grenade used by the United Kingdom during World War I. This is example is a very rare original inert WW1 hand grenade of a pattern saw service for not much more than one year as records show only 130,000 were ever manufactured.

In 1907 the COTTON POWDER COMPANY offered the No.1 Model to the British Government but were rejected. They subsequently sold it in a Rifle Grenade configuration to the Mexican Government. However, in August 1914 the British Government purchased ALL the Company's remaining stock. There were variations and even some used by the Royal Flying Corp as an Aerial Bombs.

This No.2 model was introduced in February 1915 but by the end of 1916 had been completely phased out by other simpler models that were less expensive and faster to manufacture. The British Army officially obsoleted the Hales Pattern Grenades in 1920.

Very interesting and very rare, the English answer to the German potato masher stick grenade this early version was so well constructed it looks as if it have been made by a tennis racket manufacturer!

Offer in wonderful collector's condition, totally INERT, and exceedingly rare, constructed of brass, steel and wood.