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Pte. Gary Townsend, C
Company 5RAR practice firing the M79 on the firing range
inside the 5RAR perimeter at Nui Dat
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The M79 is a 40 x 46 mm
grenade launcher that first appeared during the Vietnam
war. Commonly known as the "Thump-Gun", "Thumper", or
"Blooper" in US service, it is also known to some
Australian units as the "Wombat Gun".
Resembling a sawn-off shotgun, the grenade launcher was
designed as a close-support weapon for the infantry. It
plugged the gap between the maximum throwing distance of
a hand grenade and the lowest range of supporting
mortars. The M79 was a single shot, shoulder-fired
weapon which broke open for loading into the breech. It
fired a 40 mm grenade and had a killing range of 5
metres. Its weight loaded, was 3Kg, with a muzzle
velocity of 75 metres per second and a maximum range of
400 metres.
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Type:
Grenade launcher
Weight: 8.10 kg (17.81 lbs)
Length: 737 mm (29 in)
Barrel length: 355 mm
Cartridge: 40 mm grenade
Action: Single shot, breech loaded Rate of fire: Single shot
Effective range: 50-300 metres
Feed system: Single shot, breech loaded
Sights: Iron sight
Muzzle Velocity: 75 metres per second
Radius: Enough explosive within a steel casing
that upon impact with the target would produce over 300
fragments at 1,524 metres per second within a lethal
radius of up to 5 metres.
Arming Device: Stabilised in flight by the spin
imparted on it by the rifled barrel, the grenade rotated
at 3,700rpm, this in turn after approximately 15 meters
of flight armed the grenade. |
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40mm HE (High Explosive)
Round |
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