OTO Mod. 35

OTO Mod. 35
Type	Offensive type grenade
Place of origin	Kingdom of Italy
Service history
In service	1935–1945
Used by	Regio Esercito
Wars	Spanish Civil War World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	OTO Melara
Specifications
Weight	150 g
Height	75 mm
Diameter	50 mm

Filling	TNT
Filling weight	36 g
Detonation mechanism	Percussion on impact

The OTO Mod. 35 was a hand grenade issued to the Regio Esercito during the World War II.

Description

Entered into service in 1935, the OTO Mod. 35, together with the SRCM Mod. 35 and the Breda Mod. 35 represented the new generation of hand grenades with which the Regio Esercito faced the Second World War. It is a offense type hand grenade consisting of an aluminum body bomb painted red, contains 36 g of TNT that at the time of the explosion fragment a ball of lead containing lead pellets.^[1]

The O.T.O. is the simplest of the three Mod.35 Types. The Allways fuze is driven by a lead ball held between a cone shaped cap and a spring loaded striker. An interesting feature is the design on the ball, it's a lead-wrapped assembly of small lead shot, intended to rupture at the moment of detonation, a safety feature. Since the grenade was an offensive type, designers didn't want to have a heavy part of the bomb flying far away from the intended point of detonation, an possibly injuring the thrower. That's the reason why the ball should break into tiny parts at the moment of detonation.^[2] The internal capsule contains the explosive and a primer/detonator tube. A thin wire ring locks the two body halves together at a specific place, fixing the overall length, so as not to bind the internal parts.

Operational use

To use, the pull tab with the attached safety strip is withdrawn, just prior to throwing, unlocking the safety lever. When thrown the lever was to catch the air and be pulled from the grenade, removing the safety bar from between the firing pin and the primer.This was an open terrain grenade, as some amount of time and distance was required to allow the mechanism to function properly, which it had a tendency not to do.

Note

Bibliography

Le armi e le artiglierie in servizio di F. Grandi, 1938.
Enciclopedia delle armi, Melita Editori, La Spezia 1995.
Dizionario delle armi di Letterio Musciarelli, Milano 1978.
Armi della fanteria italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale di Nicola Pignato, 1978.

External links

Italian firearms and light weapons of World War II

Side arms	Beretta M1923 Beretta M1934 Beretta M1935 Roth–Steyr M1907 Steyr M1912 Glisenti M1910 Bodeo Model 1889

Rifles and carbines (fucili e moschetti)	Fucile da Fanteria Mod. 1891 Moschetto Mod. 91 da Cavalleria Moschetto per Truppe Speciali Mod. 91 Fucile Mod. 1938 Fucile Armaguerra Mod. 39

Submachine guns	Beretta 1918 MAB 38 Onorati OVP FNAB-43 OG-43 TZ-45

Machine guns and other larger weapons	Fiat-Revelli Mod. 1914 Fiat Revelli Mod. 1935 SAFAT M1926 Breda-SAFAT Breda Mod. 1930 Breda Mod. 5C Breda Mod. 1937 Breda Mod. 1938 Solothurn S-18/1000

Grenades	OTO Mod. 35 OTO Mod. 42 SRCM Mod. 35 Breda Mod. 35 Breda Mod. 42 L Type P Bomb

Mortars (mortai)	Mortaio Brixia Mod. 35 Mortaio da 81/14 Mod. 35

Cartridge	.32 ACP .380 ACP 6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano 7.35×51mm Carcano 8×57mm IS 8×59mm RB Breda 9×19mm Glisenti 9×19mm Parabellum 20×138mmB

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