[5] After passing an expedited service test in February 1952 it replaced the Mk 2 as the US military's standard fragmentation hand grenade.

Massive World War II production meant the Mk 2 remained as limited standard issue with the US Army and US Marines throughout the 1960s and the US Navy into the 1970s.

[7] The grenades were stored inside two-part cylindrical fiberboard shipping tubes (Container M289) and were packed 25 or 30 to a crate.

[9] The M26 series (with the exception of those with M217 impact fuzes) can be fired from any rifle with a NATO-standard 22mm muzzle by use of the M1A2 Grenade Projection Adapter which was originally developed for the Mk 2.

Its body is painted light blue with markings in white; earlier variants had a brown band across the middle.

When the grenade detonated, the overpressure made the plug pop out with a loud noise and released a plume of white smoke.

{{Citation needed}} The M50 was a "live fire" conversion of the M30 Practice grenade for use on training ranges.

It sealed the base plug, used the M204A1 fuze, and replaced the low-explosive black powder filler with high-explosive Composition B.

It allowed the training of recruits with greater safety because it lacked the fragmentation coil of the M26 and had a smaller blast radius.

[11] The L3 series (with a light blue shell and a black powder filler) is the Practice grenade variant.

[11][12] The L4 series (with a dark blue shell, non-functional fuze, and no filler) is the inert Drill grenade variant.

[11][12] The DM41 or DM41A1 is a West German copy of the M26A1 hand grenade, manufactured by Diehl Defence of Nuremberg.