On entering combat service in Vietnam, the 40mm M79 Grenade Launcher, fondly called "Thumper" or "Blooper", I became a force element with two assigned to each fire team organic to the Army 10-man rifle squads operating in the field. On impact, 300 fragments could create injury within a 100 meter (328 feet) radius with an immediate kill zone from ground burst effect out to 5 meter (17 feet) radius.
Fired from the rifled barrel, the round armed by a spin-activation safety feature after traveling between 14 (46 feet) and 27 meters (88 feet). The M406 40x46mm HE (high explosive) grenades fired from the M79, and other hand-held grenade launchers of the era, traveled at the low muzzle velocity of 75 meters (247 feet) per second. Infantry now had a weapon that effectively filled the gap beyond hand grenade range and danger close artillery/mortar coverage. With a simple break-action breech loading sawed-off and rifled shotgun design, weighing about 6.5 pounds loaded, a grenadier could quickly master placing high explosive grenades with pinpoint deadly accuracy at targets up to 350 meters (385 yards), with a maximum range of 400 meters (440 yards). service alone, and the preferred launcher remains in use today across the globe due to superior accuracy. Over the next decade, five corporations, including Springfield Armory, manufactured 350,000 of the weapons for the U. Army service in December 1960, with first deliveries made to units the following month. With no counterpart in foreign arsenals, the M79 Grenade Launcher entered U.S. The 40mm grenade launcher, still in global military use in several variations today, emerged as one of the more evolutionary weapons introduced during the Vietnam War, transitioning from low velocity single-shot handheld variants to high velocity rapid-fire scout/attack helicopter weapo n sy stems, and Centaurs embraced all variations.ĭeveloped during the 1950s by the Springfield Armory, the M79 was the first of the hand held 40mm grenade launchers designed for infantry, replacing the limited-range rifle grenades, such as the M17 and M9-types, of World War II/Korea. See discussions of the 40mm variations - Bruce Karn Memories - Tom Dooling memoriesĪ single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade M79 Hand Held - XM148 Colt Hand Held - AAI M203 Rifle Modification
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