MMHX Armory

09/05/2026

Pictured today is a very well done cutaway of an M26A2 Fragmentation Gr***de set in crystal clear resin with an M217 Impact fuze.

The M26A2 has a sheet metal body over an inner fragmentation coil. The coil is pre-scored into 1150 pieces, and the gr***de features a kill radius of five meters, with an effective casualty radius of fifteen meters.

The M217 impact fuze has an arming delay of approximately 1.5 seconds. After the arming delay, the gr***de is sensitive to the impact of striking a surface such as a wall. In the event the gr***de lands on something soft like mud, there is a three to six second pyrotechnic delay that will set off the detonator.

The earlier versions of the M217 feature a red safety lever on those produced in the early nineteen sixties, while later models featured an olive drab safety letter with the word IMPACT embossed on it.

The M217 was used on the M33A1, M26A2, M57 and M68 gr***des.

*This particular gr***de is not in my collection, but getting pictures of it from the owner shows the importance of networking with fellow collectors when you're into unusual stuff.




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08/30/2026

Originally I had not intended to have a separate box showcasing assorted gr***de fuzes. But as happens when you start collecting one thing, you end up with lots of affiliated items.

The second photo is how the fuze display box looked a few weeks ago, twenty pieces covering almost one hundred years of gr***de fuzes. Well, nineteen, and one cutaway.

Now it sits at twenty nine pieces, and one cutaway.

Thanks to some good friends ( aren't they always the worst influences? ), the collection now has some pretty uncommon pieces.

There is a Mk I Bouchon Assembly, a very early M213, an XM228, an XM227E1...

I owe many thanks to JS, who hooked me up with the seldom seen by the general public M217 Impact Detonating Hand Gr***de Fuze. This fuze, as well as the others will be given their own post as time allows.

The following is a breakdown list of all the fuzes in the large box (1st picture),

Mk 1 Bouchon Assembly
Mk 3 Bouchon and Detonator Assembly
M-10A1 Fuze
M-10A2 Fuze
M-10A3 Fuze
M-200A1 Fuze
M-204A1 Fuze
M-204A2 Fuze
M-205A1 Fuze
M-205A2 Fuze
M-215 Fuze
Mk 372Mod 0 Fuze
M-201A1 Fuze
M-207A1 Fuze
M-206A2 Fuze
XM227 Fuze
M-213 Fuze (1969)
M-213 Fuze(2009)
M-213 Fuze (2014)
XM227E1 Fuze
XM-228 Fuze (1970)
M-228 Fuze (1979)
M-228 Fuze (2015)
M-217 Fuze
Mk 155 Mod 0
M-240
Model 201 ( CTS produced M201 fuze, 2019)
201FB ( CTS Produced fuze for their Flash Bangs)
201FB Cutaway
Fly Off Lever Fuze (Made by Rheinmetal)

All items are free from explosives, and inert.



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08/04/2026

In the military you can do some cool things....like throw a hand gr***de.

Unfortunately, they dont like letting you keep momentos from things like that.

Typically the instructor collects the pin after the gr***de live fire exercise. These are then eventually sold off as scrap metal, by the pallet or fifty-five gallon drum. Luckily, these sometimes end up at true old fashioned Army Surplus stores.

One such true Army surplus store is in Lexington, Kentucky, by the name of Army Surplus Warehouse. Thanks to them I was able to acquire more than two hundred hand gr***de pins.

I am working with a fellow collector to acquire ten practice gr***des. At public events where space allows, my plan is for guests who throw a practice gr***de to be able to keep the pin.

Many thanks to Oscar4Fox for making a very comfortable hooded combat shirt in DNC, it pairs quite well with Chocolate Chip camo. Excellent small veteran owned business, great folks to deal with.

07/28/2026

I was adventuring off in the North Country with a friend when we came across this little church and sign in Vermont. I could have driven straight past this, and just assumed the sign meant it was a historic church.

However, because the gentleman who runs Historia Obscurum has done such a great job telling their story, I had to stop our adventure, take a picture, and tell my friend a much more detailed version of this story. The sign is brief and doesn't do their sacrifice justice.

A link to Historia's post is in the comments.

06/24/2026

While I was over at the Vermont National Guard Library & Museum, parked beside the M7 Self propelled howitzer was another piece of American Armor not often seen...

The M42 Duster.

Pepduced for eight years (1952 to 1960) by General Motors, the M42 weighs just under twenty five tons when fully loaded. For weaponry, the M42 is outfitted with a twin mounted M2A1 forty millimeter anti aircraft gun armed with three hundred and thirty six rounds of am******on, as well as either an M60, or an M19A4 machine gun. The main guns are capable of putting out up to two hundred and forty rounds per minute in cyclic, however the sustained rate of fire is much lower, with the US Navy placing it at sixty to ninety rounds per barrel, as the loader must manually load each four round clip.

The M42 was designed to support a crew of six; the vehicle commander, the driver, the gunner, two loaders and a sight setter, who finds the targets for the gunner. 3,700 M42s were produced before the military decided to phase out anti aircraft guns, and utilize missiles for that role. As a result, many of the M42s were passed from active US army service and passed down to National Guard units. The final unit to operate the M42 Duster in an Air Defense role was based out of South Carolina, in 1988.

You'll notice all these pictures are rather closely cropped, and from ground level. The Vermont National Guard Library & Museum is on an active duty base, so while you are allowed, and encouraged, to take pictures of the display items, they have a pretty firm rule about no pictures towards the base.

There are many more vehicles, aircraft and atrillery pieces outside on display, as well as an entire building full of information, artifacts, and helpful staff. I highly recommend stopping by, they have some rather uncommon pieces.

06/06/2026

05/30/2026

I was in Vermont for a family event. Which meant that I would be left to my own devices to entertain myself. It took all of ten minutes to find out that the Vermont National Guard has a museum and library that are open to the public. While the museum IS open to the public, check hours and days. The staff are great, full of information they are willing to share.

Unlike some museums, the staff actually asks if you would like a guided tour, or if you would like to self guide. I am a big fan of that, as it feels more relaxed being able to walk around and look at what you want without being rushed along.

Vermont National Guard Library & Museum has quite a variety of items on display, from aircraft to uniforms, and everything in between. I was even able to check out an OH-13E Sioux helicopter (if you're in my generation, you would recognize it as the Medevac helicopter in MASH, with the big bubble canopy). They are a small museum with some truly unique and interesting pieces.

I have always had a fascination with the M7.

Produced between 1942 and 1945, the M7 Howitzer Motor Carriage is armed with a 105mm main gun, as well as a .50 caliber M2 machine gun. The standard combat load for this self propelled gun is sixty nine shells for the 105mm howitzer, and three hundred rounds of linked am******on for the .50 caliber machine gun.

With an off road speed of approximately fifteen miles an hour, the M7 has an operational range of one hundred and twenty miles. Which is impressive for a vehicle that is almost twenty feet long, and weighs just over twenty five tons (50,640 pounds). With the M2 machine gun mounted on the gunners ring, the vehicle has a total height of just under ten feet (which helps you understand why the museum does not allow you to climb on their vehicles, thats a big fall)

Just under forty three hundred of these vehicles were produced. Currently there are twenty five surviving examples, and I am very grateful to the Vermont National Guard Library & Museum, and their docents for allowing me to check out the one they have up close.

There are many more pictures from this trip, so stay tuned.

05/29/2026

I had a family function over in Vermont, so since I was in the area, I had to stop by the Vermont National Guard Library & Museum. A great museum with many outside items (big fan of the tanks and artillery), they also have various aircraft. Inside is full of educational displays, great items, and docents with many stories to share.

I will post many more pictures once I have had time to sort through them.

05/22/2026

03/29/2026

I made a post a while ago, when I obtained the two M34 White Phosphorus gr***des.

I have since gotten one more, on the right in the first picture. This one came to me after being demilled, with a hole punched in it. As you can see in the pictures, it needed a bit of a clean up. Since it arrived with a hole in it, and the displays already include two M34s the natural choice was to take out the damaged pieces and make it a sectioned piece.

As part of the demilitarization process and rendering the M34 gr***des inert, the fuzes are removed from the gr***de bodies. Due to the violent reaction of white phosphorous when it is exposed to oxygen, the gr***des must be placed in a closed system at Crane Army Am******on Activity. Without going into too many details, the folks over at CAAA are able to convert white phosphorous into phosphoric acid, which is then sold as fertilizer.

The first picture shows not only the cutaway beside the complete gr***de, but two different body types as well.

The remaining pictures show the condition it was received in, and how it looked after a little clean up.




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