Wow! But yeah, never trust anything. Treat every gun as if it is loaded. Ditto goes for munitions! ;-)

Glad that you didn't go *BOOM*!

Probably the only time you're glad your birthday wasn't a blast.

Be careful, the BATFE isn't going to be happy with you possessing what might be considered by them to be an unregistered destructive device. How do you get something like this thing safely (and legally) deactivated?

I didn't even think about that at the time. You're right, of course - owning an explosive device is illegal. When I discovered the grenade was live my first thought was to get rid of the explosives. I'd done so many dangerous things already that carefully pouring and washing out the main charge seemed like a piece of cake. Then I disposed of the explosives as safely as I could think of. The dangerous stuff is all gone now and the grenade is absolutely empty. Just an inert piece of cast iron. So I'm not really a person of interest to anyone unless you're interested in some scrap iron.

In hindsight, I should've called the EOD and they'd probably end up destroying the thing. I don't think any EOD guy would even attempt to deactivate an old hand grenade. Not worth the trouble, I guess - not that I blame them. They just tend to take away the stuff and blow it up some place safe so that nobody gets hurt.

Maybe, maybe not. They may think even though it's empty, it can be refilled at a later date. It would be like me saying that Browning M2 .50 caliber I had shipped home in pieces is perfectly legal because it's 'not loaded.' There's a difference between 'empty' and 'deactivated,' milled in such a way to make it useless for it's intended purpose. Unfortunately, that's a decision that they will make, not you. Let's face it, the BATFE boys aren't exactly known for their sense of humor.

How do you mill an empty hand grenade?

Inert hand grenades can be bought legally. I have no explosives, no detonator, even the grenade itself is heavily corroded. I don't really see any similarity between an inert grenade (which in fact qualifies as an antique/collector's item) and a .50 caliber MG (supposing you mean the machine gun, not just an inert .50 cal. round).

I guess it could still be refilled if somebody wanted to. I think you could make a much more effective device with a stick of dynamite placed in a metal can filled with scrap iron, though.

I know collectors who own literally hundreds of inert rounds, grenades and shells. If the BATFA arrest me for that lousy empty Mills bomb I wonder what they're going to do to all those collectors?

I was thinking similar thoughts. I own a couple inert hand grenades. I'm sure with the right materials I could make them, no so inert.

Hey Blast, weekend project? Kidding... just kidding...

I wouldn't worry about it. The casing is just that, a casing, the same as a steel pipe would be. The detonator is dead and that cannot be re-manufactured unless you are a pro. If you are, the BATFE is already at your door anyway. My son has a demilled baseball grenade. No problems although I did not let him put it in his luggage on his last flight to see grandma.

Regards,
Bill