M79 grenade launcher
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| M79 grenade launcher | |
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| Type | grenade launcher |
| Place of origin | United States of America |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1961-present |
| Used by | See history |
| Wars | Vietnam War, Iraq War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Springfield Armory |
| Designed | 1953-1960 |
| Manufacturer | Colt |
| Produced | 1961-1971 |
| Number built | 350,000 (U.S. only) |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 2.93 kg (6.45 lbs) loaded 2.7 kg (5.95 lbs) empty |
| Length | 73.1 cm (28.78 in) |
| Barrel length | 35.7 cm (14 in) |
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| Cartridge | 40 mm grenade |
| Action | break open |
| Rate of fire | 6 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity | 76 m/s (247 fps) |
| Effective range | 350 m (383 yds) |
| Maximum range | 400 m (437 yds) |
| Feed system | breech-loaded |
| Sights | Blade and leaf type |
The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break open grenade launcher which fires a 40 x46 mm grenade and first appeared during the Vietnam War. Because of its distinctive firing sound, among American soldiers, it earned the nicknames of "Thump-Gun", "Thumper", or "Blooper", but Australian units referred to it as the "Wombat Gun". The M79 resembles a large bore, break-action, sawed-off shotgun, and can fire a wide variety of 40 mm rounds, including explosive, anti-personnel, smoke, buckshot, flechette, and illumination. However, its size and single-shot nature means that a soldier with a M79 would be dedicated to being only a grenadier. Underbarrel grenade launchers, such as the XM148 and the M203, where the grenade launcher attaches to the rifle, were developed during the war, allowing the grenadier to function also as a rifleman. The M203 would ultimately replace the M79, but the M79 has remained in service in many units worldwide in niche roles.
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[edit] History
The M79 was a result of Project Niblick, an attempt to increase firepower for the infantryman by having an explosive projectile more accurate with further range than rifle grenades, but more portable than a mortar. Project Niblick created the 40 x 46 mm grenade, but was unable to create a satisfactory launcher for it that could fire more than a single shot. One of the launchers at Springfield Armory was the single-shot break-open, shoulder-fired S-3. It was refined into the S-5, which resembled an over-sized shotgun. Unable to develop a suitable multi-shot launcher, the Army adopted the S-5 as the XM79. With a new sight, the XM79 was officially adopted as the M79 on December 15, 1960.[1]
In 1961, the first M79 grenade launchers were delivered to the US Army. Short in length and relatively light in weight, the M79 became popular among American soldiers in Vietnam. Some soldiers would cut down the stock and barrel to make the M79 even more portable. Its simplicity translated into ease of use and accuracy. A grenadier using a M79 could consistently drop grenades into a garbage can 150 yards away. However, its single-shot nature was a strong drawback. Having to reload after every shot meant a slow rate of fire and therefore an inability to keep up a constant volume of fire during a firefight. Also, for close-in situation, the minimum arming range and the blast radius meant a grenadier would have to either resort to a backup pistol, if he had one to begin with, or fire and hope that the grenade would not arm itself and act as a giant slow bullet. Specialty grenades for close-in fighting were created to compensate, though a soldier did not always have the luxury of being able to load one in the heat of battle.
The M203 replaced the M79 by the end of the Vietnam War, though M79s were still used in Reserve and National Guard units. Others users of the M79 included Australia, Chad, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Paraguy, Phillipines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, and North Yemen. Daewoo manufactured the M79 under license as the KM79. [2]
The M79 has seen notable limited use during Operation Iraqi Freedom, such as for clearing IEDs.[3]
[edit] Design
The M79 grenade launcher is simple in design, having only five parts: a receiver group, a fore-end assembly, a barrel group, a sight assembly, and a stock. The fore-end assembly beds the barrel to the receiver. The stock is made out of wood or fiberglass. A rubber pad affixed to the shoulder stock to absorbs some recoil. The front sight is a fixed blade. The rear sight on the M79 is a folding ladder-style leaf-type sight. When folded, the leaf sight acts as a fixed sight for close range. A grenadier may simply point and shoot with high accuracy. When unfolded, the leaf-type sight could be adjusted for ranges from 75-meters to 375-meters, in 25-meters increments. Additionally, Appendix A of U.S. Army field manual for the M203 includes instructions for attaching the M15 rifle grenade sight to the M79's stock and marking the sling for indirect fire at elevations greater than 40°.
[edit] Operation
The M79 is easy to operate. To load, the grenadier pushes the barrel locking latch on the receiver group to the right. Gravity will pull down the barrel, breaking it open, and exposing the breech. The hammer is cocked when the breech is opened. A round then may be loaded. The break action must then be closed manually. Closing the breech will cause the barrel locking latch to return to center. To fire, the grenadier pushes the safety forward, revealing the symbol 'F', and pulls the trigger. To unload, the grenadier pushes the barrel locking latch to the right and opens the breech. The extractor will push the case out, allowing the grenadier to grasp it and remove it.
If a soldier is wearing gloves for winter operations, the trigger guard may be rotated to the left or right by pushing on the detent on the front of the trigger guard.
[edit] Ammunition
See also Survey of Modern US 40mm Grenades
Many different ammunition types were produced for the M79 (and subsequently for the M203), outside of the smoke and illumination rounds three main types emerge: Explosive, Close-range, and Non Lethal Crowd Control. The break-open action of the M79 allows it to use longer rounds that the standard M203 cannot use.
[edit] Explosive
The M406 40 mm HE (high explosive) grenades fired from the M79 travel at a muzzle velocity of 75 meters per second. The M406 contained enough explosive to produce over 300 fragments that travel at 1,524 meters per second within a lethal radius of 5 meters. This round incorporated a spin-activation safety feature which prevents the grenade from arming while still within range of the shooter; it armed itself after traveling a distance of about 30 meters. Even though the round would not arm at point blank ranges, the round still had enough kinetic energy to kill or seriously injure its target.
[edit] Close range
For close range fighting two styles of M79 rounds were developed. The first was a flechette or Bee Hive round which fired 45 10-grain steel flechettes. Flechettes proved to be ineffective because they would often not hit point-first and penetrate. Instead they would hit sideways and bounce off. About 1966, this was replaced by the M576 buckshot round. Containing twenty (M576E1) or twenty-seven #4 buckshot (M576E2), this round could be devastating at close ranges. However, as range increased, the shot spreads out so rapidly as to be ineffective. The M576E2, despite the greater number of shot, was more ineffective at range than the M576E1, because its shot spread out much more quickly and could completely miss the target.
[edit] Less-Lethal / Crowd Control
The M79 has been used extensively also for crowd control purposes where it is desirable to have a weapon dedicated solely to less-lethal force. The three common less-lethal rounds are the M651 CS gas, the M1029 sponge grenade, and the M1029 Crowd Dispersal rounds.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Dockery, Kevin (December 2004). Weapons of the Navy SEALs. New York City: Berkley Publishing Group, 372-374. ISBN 0-425-19834-0.
- ^ Jane's Infantry Weapons 1997-98, 23rd edition, Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 242. ISBN 0-7106-1548-5.
- ^ Marines test 'blooper' against roadside bomb threat
