Mark 19 grenade launcher4/29/2023 ![]() “But an individual’s loss of speed and maneuverability are no greater than if he were carrying a loaded M-60 machine gun.” “Persons experience carrying a loaded XM-174 … as heavy and awkward,” an Army report stated after tests at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. “The weapon became especially unmanageable when the gunner was required to travel through deep mud and water and through thick jungle undergrowth.”Īerojet XM-174 promotional images, including one with a shoulder sling, and the gun’s basic dimensions. “The weight of a loaded magazine … influenced the use of the XM-174 in foot-mobile operations,” an official review stated. With all that added weight concentrated in a single spot and hanging off to one side, Aerojet’s launcher became frustrating to handle. For starters, when the gun’s ovular drum magazine was fully loaded, it weighed almost as much as the gun itself. Instead of a loose belt, the company cooked up a self-contained 12-round drum.īut the weapon was still pretty heavy. In response, Aerojet modified the design to make it easier for soldiers to carry the ammunition. With the low-recoil ammo and a slow rate of fire, soldiers could shoot the XM-174 on the move and “from the hip.” The Army even rejected a launcher that was more akin to an automatic rifle, complete with a butt stock, bipod and five-round magazine.īut during demonstrations, the lightweight designs did eventually change the evaluators’ minds. If soldiers were to use it when dismounted, they’d need a tripod. Army photosĪt first, the Army expected to put the XM-174 on vehicles. Right-the rifle-like weapon the Army rejected in favor of the XM-174. A typical M-60 machine gun was 10 pounds heavier. Aerojet’s initial cannon weighed only 13 pounds. Due to its bulk, the Army only fitted this weapon onto early gunship helicopters.īut if the Army used low-velocity rounds, the XM-174 could be significantly lighter than previous designs. But the launcher needed to be stronger and heavier to handle the added recoil. military’s sole fully-auto grenade launcher fired “high-velocity” rounds - which could travel much faster. This new “low-velocity” launcher fired the same 40-millimeter ammunition as the “blooper,” and did so at the relatively slow speed of 250 feet per second.Īt the time, the U.S. 30-caliber Browning machine gun and the standard M-79 “bloop gun.” The Aerojet Ordnance Manufacturing Company built the weapon, which looked like a combination of the World War II-era. “User tests eliminated all but the XM-174 automatic, low-velocity launcher.” ![]() The “requirement was … based on upon requests from the field … for a weapon which could be vehicle mounted and provide a high volume of area fire,” a contemporary Army report explained. ![]() Two years later, Army evaluators settled on the XM-174 - one of four different designs - as a possible basic infantry weapon. Volume: 41.93 L Weight: 77.60 lbs /35.20 kgĢ accessories 1 barrel 1 brass catcher 1 sights 1 sling 1 rail mount 1 underbarrel mountĪ heavy, tripod-mounted belt-fed grenade launcher used by the US Military since the start of the Cold War all the way to the cataclysm, and if you can find some 40mm grenades, maybe even beyond.In 1964, American advisers in Vietnam asked the Army for a rapid-firing grenade launcher to help beat back communist insurgents.
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