[1] The Mills bomb was inspired by an earlier design by Belgian captain Leon Roland, who later engaged in a patent lawsuit.

[2] Col. Arthur Morrow, a New Zealand Wars officer, also believed aspects of his patent were incorporated into the Mills Bomb.

The Mills was a classic design; a grooved cast iron "pineapple" with a central striker held by a close hand lever and secured with a pin.

According to Mills's notes, the casing was grooved to make it easier to grip, not as an aid to fragmentation; and it has been shown that it does not shatter along the segmented lines [citation needed].

A competent thrower could manage 49 ft (15 m) with reasonable accuracy,[citation needed] but the grenade could throw lethal fragments farther than this.

[citation needed] The heavy segmented bodies of "pineapple" type grenades result in an unpredictable pattern of fragmentation.

After the Second World War, Britain adopted grenades that contained segmented coiled wire in smooth metal casings.

The British soon developed a simple cradle attached to the rifle's bayonet lug to hold the safety-lever in place and prevent accidental detonations.

The operator inserted the ballistite cartridge into the rifle before setting the stock, angled on the ground to absorb the recoil of the weapon.

Lee–Enfield rifles equipped with the cup launcher were sometimes modified with copper wire wrapped around the stock, to prevent the wood from splitting under the increased recoil.