ELI5 what stops a 40mm grenade from detonating if you spin it like a top?

r/

So I know a 40mm grenade won’t detonate until it’s spun a certain amount of times in flight (distance is usually 5 meters I think). So what stops someone from picking one up and spinning it around and having it blow up in their face?

Comments

  1. ScrivenersUnion Avatar

    This person is the reason why munitions are kept under lock and key, even on military bases.

  2. FiveDozenWhales Avatar

    What kind of 40mm grenade?

    There are lots of different kinds with different fuses.

    Modern airburst fuses have an electronic timer which is programmed by the gun before firing. An unprogrammed grenade is not armed so you can spin it all day and it will not go off.

  3. Foreign-Fisherman-77 Avatar

    At what stage in life does someone start asking themselves these questions? Lmao

  4. Accelerator231 Avatar

    I believe there are multiple safeties. There is likely an inertial safety that only deactivates when the grenade has been moving in one direction over a certain velocity for a set period of time

  5. SheetSafety Avatar

    can someone give me an eli5 on what this dude is asking?