In one of the previous articles, revolving hand grenade launchers were considered. This subclass of weapons turned out to be not so large-scale, which is easily explained by the dimensions and weight, which impose some restrictions on constant carrying. These disadvantages completely cover both the simplicity of the design and the ability to fire several times in a row with a minimum delay between shots. However, no one would argue that the hand grenade launcher is a very useful weapon on the battlefield. And although the main characteristics of the weapon are determined by the grenade launcher, the designs of the multiply charged hand grenade launchers are at least of interest. In this article, I propose to get acquainted with domestic multiply charged hand grenade launchers. This time we will not be limited to 40 mm caliber, but we will cover the topic more fully.
Hand grenade launcher TKB-0249 "Crossbow"
I would like to start with a rather interesting sample of a hand-held multiple-charge grenade launcher, which was developed in the late 90s of the last century under the leadership of Valery Nikolaevich Telesh. Initially, the goal was to create a hand-held grenade launcher that would satisfy the needs of both military and law enforcement agencies, that is, in fact, this grenade launcher was supposed to become somewhat universal. For the first time this weapon was shown to the public in 1998. They became interested in the grenade launcher, and not only domestic visitors to the exhibition, but also foreign ones showed interest.
In addition to the fact that the "Crossbow" grenade launcher has a fairly simple and well-thought-out design, which does not require significant production costs and allows production to be launched virtually on the knee, this weapon turned out to be quite attractive even by modern standards, although not quite usual in its layout … The characteristics of the weapon look no less attractive, thanks to which, with the light hand of journalists, the hand grenade launcher "Crossbow" was dubbed the sniper one. Indeed, the characteristics of the weapon allow it to hit targets at a distance of up to 150 meters with a fairly high accuracy, and this is the merit not only of ammunition, but also the design of the weapon itself, although the indicators are not so sniper ones, but more on that below.
Conventionally, the TKB-0249 grenade launcher can be divided into two parts, upper and lower. In the upper part there is a receiver with a rather heavy bolt and a weapon barrel. The lower part consists of a trigger, a stock, a magazine receiver and a bipod.
An unusual type of weapon is due precisely to the layout, in which the butt is placed below the receiver to reduce the total length of the weapon. This arrangement has a positive effect on the convenience of holding the grenade launcher when firing without using a bipod, since the weight of the weapon can be distributed between the holding arm and the shoulder, and the weight of the Crossbow grenade launcher is not for children - 10 kilograms, excluding the magazine and ammunition.
To some extent, such a mass is even necessary to compensate for the recoil when firing, since the VOG-17M, VOG-30 and GPD-30 shots are used in the grenade launcher. That is, this is not a "slow" forty-millimeter grenade launcher shot, but a much faster one, with an initial speed of up to 185 meters per second. But not only the mass compensates for the recoil when firing. The bolt group plays a significant role in recoil compensation, behind which there is a damper that stretches the recoil moment. It is the minimization of the effect of recoil when firing that makes the weapon more accurate in comparison with its counterparts.
It is impossible to ignore the main drawback of such a layout. Since the axis of the barrel of the hand-held grenade launcher "Crossbow" is located much higher than the butt of the weapon, then even compensated by the weight of the grenade launcher and the damper behind the bolt, the recoil takes the weapon away when fired upwards. This means that after each shot, the grenade launcher will have to be returned to the aiming line, therefore, a high rate of fire cannot be achieved "from hand", which is partially compensated by the bipod on the weapon.
In addition to open sights, an optical sight and a laser rangefinder can be installed on the Crossbow hand-held grenade launcher, which allows relatively accurate fire at the enemy at distances of more than a kilometer, but you need to understand that an accurate hit at these distances from one shot is more likely luck than regularity. For firing at such distances, there are a lot of other models of weapons, while the actual ranges of use of hand grenade launchers rarely exceed 400-600 meters, and at such a distance "Crossbow" shows excellent results. With a great desire and using the GPD-30 shot, you can throw a grenade at a distance of more than two kilometers, but does this make sense?
Separately, a few words must be said about the power supply of the weapon. The TKB-0249 hand grenade launcher is powered from single-row box magazines with a capacity of 5 rounds. In addition to them, disk magazines with a capacity of 10 rounds have been developed. There is a mention of box magazines with a capacity of 10 shots, but this is hard to believe, since magazines of this length will make it difficult to use a hand grenade launcher from a bipod.
The total length of the weapon is 900 millimeters, while the mass of a weapon with a loaded magazine with a capacity of 10 rounds is more than 14 kilograms. It goes without saying that a comparison with the hand-held grenade launcher of the RG-6 revolving type arises, because both in terms of weight and dimensions, the "Crossbow" loses to the latter, the only advantage is in the capacity of the magazine and the speed of reloading in the presence of already loaded magazines, which also need to be worn and which also have a volume and mass. Despite this, it will not be entirely correct to compare the two hand grenade launchers, since they use different ammunition, which, in turn, have their advantages in certain conditions. Despite this, it is difficult to deny that it is easier and more convenient to carry the RG-6 in comparison with the "Crossbow". To be objective, the TKB-0249 hand grenade launcher can be said to occupy an intermediate place between hand and automatic grenade launchers on the machine.
Automatic hand grenade launcher Baryshev
No less interesting, but much less comfortable when transporting on your shoulders, is the design proposed by Anatoly Baryshev. And here is the dilemma, to talk about the grenade launcher in its original version or about the version that will be produced in Belarus at the production facilities of Belspetsvneshtekhnika, since these are two different grenade launchers in terms of their weight and dimensions. It would be more logical to present the big picture, from the first to the last touches.
In the past few years, flattering articles about weapons developed by Anatoly Baryshev can be found on the Internet and in the periodicals. Of course, they compare this weapon with what is now in service, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that the current common models of weapons are losing in the same accuracy (if you take machine guns). Even I can recall from memory a couple of dozen models of assault rifles that will "beat" at least a little bit, but more precisely AK of any year. The main topic of such articles is usually the topic of bureaucracy and how it interferes with the arming of the army, so to speak, if it did not interfere, then for twenty years already everyone would have re-equipped with blasters and jet-powered tanks.
This is partly the case, and it's hard to argue with that. Nevertheless, few people consider how much a new assault rifle or machine gun will cost in production, how much a complete rearmament will cost, and how much the characteristics of this newest weapon will change during mass production. So we get that for the sake of an increase of several percent in the accuracy of fire, you need to spend not even millions, but much more. Add to this a comparison on the reliability of work in adverse conditions and in the absence of appropriate care, and everything will fall into place.
I foresee objections in the form of the possibility of small-scale production for the needs of special forces. But, firstly, the special forces do not have a couple of hundred people in their composition, so the production will not be small-scale. Go to any forum, where every second served in the special forces. Unless forums for expectant mothers can boast of such a feature. Sometimes the impression is created that the entire army consists of special forces … Secondly, if you organize manual assembly and careful fitting of all parts, then the characteristics of the weapons currently in service will turn out to be much higher than with large-scale production. Even such a simple item as a cartridge can vary in quality, what can we say about a weapon. But this is if we talk about the development of individual constructors as a whole.
In the case of the works of Anatoly Baryshev, it is necessary to separately highlight his manual multi-charge grenade launcher, since this class of weapons is represented by a rather meager list of models. Provided that this weapon really in certain situations shows an advantage over automatic grenade launchers of the AGS-17 type and over single-shot manual grenade launchers, including under-barrel grenade launchers, the start of production and adoption is more than justified, since there are not many alternatives.
It is necessary to start counting the time by the moment of the first operational samples of the Baryshev hand grenade launcher from the end of the 80s of the last century. It is clear that at that time it was quite problematic to launch the production of not just a new model of weapons, but a new class of weapons. In addition to the confusion in the country itself, the process was also hampered by the fact that neither the army nor law enforcement agencies experienced an urgent need for a hand-held multiple-charge grenade launcher. Rather, there was a need, but it was from the category "no, well, okay, there is, well, well," which, in principle, can be observed even now, and even in the armies of other countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were attempts to establish the production of weapons in the camps of the canceled Warsaw Pact, in Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, but it did not work, since the designer managed to obtain patents for his weapons, which stopped all movements in this direction.
For almost 30 years, the media often mentioned the designer's weapons, sometimes there were even half-hints that the military was finally interested in developments and that full-scale production was about to begin. And finally, we can say that a miracle happened, Anatoly Baryshev's hand grenade launcher will be produced at the Belarusian enterprise Belspetsvneshtekhnika. But with one caveat: the weapon will be slightly different from what was described earlier. This can be explained at least by the fact that for 30 years the designer himself made a lot of changes and improvements to his weapons, well, and the Belarusian specialists obviously get their salaries for a reason. Let's try to compare what was and what has become in the simplest and most accessible way - in numbers.
The most important criterion for such a weapon is, of course, its mass. It is indisputable that “heaviness is good, heaviness is reliable” (c), but not in the case when this weight needs to be carried on yourself. In the original version, the Baryshev grenade launcher had a mass of more than 15 kilograms. It seems like a lot at all. For example, AGS-17 weighs 18 kilograms, although without a machine and ammunition it is useless, on a machine and with a tape for 29 shots its weight is almost 45 kilograms. That is, we already have an advantage in weight, which means either a reduction in the calculation, or an increased number of ammunition carried by the crew. Plus such important advantages as maneuverability and the ability to shoot almost from the belt.
Comparison with AGS-17 in this case is relatively correct, since both grenade launchers have the ability to conduct automatic fire at a rate of 350-400 rounds per minute, but the possible theoretical maximum range of a shot for the AGS-17 has little to do with practical the maximum distances are certainly possible, but it is difficult to hit. But you need to understand that weapons are not interchangeable. At distances up to 300-400 meters, ARGB has a clear advantage over AGS-17, as well as an advantage when using weapons in urban areas, while AGS-17 will show higher accuracy at longer distances. In other words, grenade launchers have separate tasks for each, but these tasks partially overlap.
The current version of Anatoly Baryshev's hand grenade launcher has a mass of almost half that, namely about 8 kilograms without ammunition. This weight loss is truly impressive. Honestly, I admit that I did not find information that they managed to make it easier in weapons to such an extent, since, apart from general "excuses" in the form of the use of light alloys and plastic, no one says anything, but you can calculate how many more grenade launcher shots can be taken for the difference masses. If we take a 7 kilogram difference and a shot mass of 0.34 kilograms, it turns out that for the difference in the weight of the old and new grenade launcher, you can drag 20 shots, which, provided that the updated weapon can be powered from the tape, is very good.
From the reduction in the mass of the weapon, it is possible to deduce a completely natural question about the recoil when firing. It is no secret that a heavier sample of firearms, all other things being equal, will have a more comfortable recoil. In this case, you can only rely on the opinion of those who were lucky enough to try out the lightweight sample. According to them, the recoil when firing is about the same as when fired from a 12-gauge gun. Which leads back to the idea that the semi-free breech automation system, once developed by Kiraly and significantly modernized by Baryshev, copes very well with recoil when using sufficiently powerful ammunition.
As a result, in its current form, the Baryshev hand grenade launcher is a weapon with the ability to feed both from a tape, with a capacity of 29 grenade launchers, and from a detachable magazine with a capacity of 6 shots. The mass of the weapon without ammunition is 8 kilograms. It is possible to conduct both single and automatic fire. The weapon can be used both when shooting "from hand" and when using folding, height-adjustable bipods. The total length with the stock unfolded is 900 millimeters, with the stock folded - 750 millimeters. Barrel length is 300 millimeters. It remains only to adapt this weapon for ammunition with a programmable fuse and the XM-25 will be far overboard. True, first, such grenade launcher shots need to be put into mass production.
GM-93 and GM-94 hand grenade launchers
To once again note the lack of variety in hand-held multiple-charge grenade launchers, you need to stop and say that this is where the weapon with automatic reloading is over. In particular, the GM-93 and GM-94 grenade launchers under consideration will have to be reloaded with handles after each shot, but this does not make these grenade launchers less interesting.
As you might guess from the designation of the grenade launchers, their release was established in 93 and 94. It makes no sense to consider these grenade launchers as two different models; rather, this is the development of one idea - the creation of a manual multiple-charge grenade launcher, on the basis of a design that has already been known to everyone and has proven itself over the years only on the positive side.
The most significant difference between the GM-93 and the GM-94 is the location of the magazine and the barrel of the weapon. In the first version, the magazine was located under the "classic scheme" under the barrel, in the updated version, the magazine was moved above the barrel. From a practical point of view, this gave a huge plus in the form of a decrease in the movement of the barrel from the line of sight after the shot, since the centerline of the barrel became even lower than the line of the stop on the shoulder of the shooter. Accordingly, in a shorter period of time, the shooter can manage to produce a larger number of aimed shots, although against the background of the presence of manual reloading, this statement can be questioned from all sides.
The grenade launcher is powered from a tubular magazine with a capacity of 3 grenade launcher shots, in addition, the fourth shot can be located in the breech of the weapon. Recharging is carried out when the forearm moves back and forth. The magazine is equipped from above the receiver, through a lid that folds forward, the spent cartridge case is ejected downward, that is, the internal mechanisms of the weapon are maximally closed and protected from dirt. That, together with the simplest reloading mechanism and the form of a grenade launcher shot, ensures trouble-free and reliable operation of the grenade launcher in adverse conditions and in any position of the weapon.
This grenade launcher was created, both for the needs of the army and for the police, which explains the rather good range of ammunition. The device is powered by 43 mm VGM93 shots. At the moment there are 9 different options for grenade launcher shots. Training, fragmentation, smoke and flash-noise shots will not surprise anyone, but in addition to them there are also quite interesting shots with thermobaric equipment, and the minimum range of such ammunition is 10 meters. The projectile itself can penetrate 40 millimeters of pine boards, which makes it possible to use it indoors through interior doors.
For law enforcement agencies, ammunition equipped with irritating compounds has been developed, among which there is also a traumatic one. Ammunition, the so-called traumatic, and as far as it is clear from the description, we are talking about "neutralizing offenders with minimal damage to health due to the impact on them with a striking element", that is, a striking element in the amount of one piece, and not a rubber shot.
As a result, we get a rather interesting and effective weapon-ammunition complex, which, by the way, looks quite modern against the background of other samples, which is also important by today's standards, when beauty on the market is put on a par with functionality.
If we talk about weapons in numbers, then we have the following. The mass of the GM-94 grenade launcher without ammunition is 5 kilograms. Sighting range of fire up to 300 meters, with a strong desire, you can throw a grenade and 500, only there is luck, and not aimed shooting. The total length of the weapon with the butt unfolded is 820 millimeters, with 545 millimeters folded. But such compactness is deceiving, due to the design of the butt, in the folded position it increases the height of the weapon from 280 to 320 millimeters, but this is only critical when storing weapons in boxes.
If the previous two samples of grenade launchers were interesting for their design, then the GM-94 is interesting primarily for its ammunition, well, and for the simplicity of the implementation of the weapon itself, which also sometimes arouses interest. Objectively, in an open area for this hand grenade launcher there are very few tasks that the grenade launcher could not cope with, but for use in urban areas or by law enforcement agencies, this weapon seems much more acceptable in its characteristics than the two previous samples with automatic reloading.
Manual "non-lethal" grenade launcher RGS-33
The word "non-lethal" in relation to the grenade launcher looks as unnatural as the adjacent word "silent", nevertheless, such grenade launchers exist, but about silent grenade launchers some other time, while we focus on really high-quality, and most importantly effective traumatic pistol with a stock. Well, I do not dare to call the RGS-33 a grenade launcher, although who am I to violate the classification of weapons.
Despite its "non-lethality", the RGS-33 hand grenade launcher is not intended at all for dispersing crowds, it was created for use in storming buildings, for arming counter-terrorist units. That is, weapons and shots were developed for him with an eye on the fact that hostages could be in the same room with the enemy, which explains the range of ammunition. Used for firing only 4 types of shots. Among which there are two versions of the traumatic EG-33 and EG-33M, with one large rubber striking element and with rubber shot, respectively. A shot filled with an irritating substance GS-33, as well as a stun grenade GSZ-33. As it is not difficult to guess, the caliber of the weapon is 33 mm.
The weapon looks, to put it mildly, strange, but its appearance does not affect its effectiveness in any way. As such, the RGS-33 grenade launcher does not have barrels, instead of them there is a block of three chamber chambers. A small amount of powder composition that accelerates the projectile, only up to 50 meters per second, and the absence of barrels affects the effective range of fire - only 25 meters. However, when it comes to indoor applications, this distance is more than sufficient. What is really strange about this grenade launcher (like foam on glass) is the presence of a rather heavy folding stock. And the point here is not that the butt is not needed, although you can shoot from a weapon like a pistol, you could have limited yourself to something lighter, in the form of a retractable wire, which would reduce the total mass of the weapon, which, without ammunition, is 2.5 kilograms …
The principle of operation of the weapon is as simple as possible. Shots are inserted into the forward-leaning chamber block, after it is closed, when the trigger is pressed, the drummer is cocked and rotated by 120 degrees, after a breakdown. Thus, after 3 shots, the striker goes a full circle and after reloading begins to work from the same place from which the first shot was fired the previous time.
Such a system is good for its simplicity, but it also has disadvantages, which, although far-fetched, are present. First of all, in the RGS-33 there is no possibility of choosing the type of ammunition. That is, the ammunition is used consistently and if it has not reached what is needed at the moment, for example, traumatic, then it will be necessary to use what is. Conversely, you need to keep in mind the position of the drummer, if you need to replenish not fully spent ammunition. In other matters, if we consider that such a weapon very rarely needs to be reloaded, then all this fades into the background.
Despite the fact that this device has long established itself as an assault weapon, for some reason I see it as a means of self-defense, moreover, "non-lethal action", but really effective, except that the weight confuses.
"Underwater" hand grenade launcher DP-63
Since the exotic has gone in the form of a "non-lethal" grenade launcher, why not mention the "underwater" grenade launcher? In fact, the underwater DP-63 is not, of course, you can shoot from it under water, but only as a rather extravagant method of suicide. This product was developed within the framework of the Nepryadva program, the purpose of which was to create an effective anti-sabotage means to protect ships, one of the results of the work was the DP-63 double-charge grenade launcher.
The DP-63 hand grenade launcher itself consists of a block of two smooth barrels and a rotary bolt, the rear of which is at the same time an emphasis on the shoulder when firing. The fire is fired alternately. On the barrels themselves there is a handle for more comfortable holding, and sights are also placed on them. The pistol grip is also fixed to the barrels, although it may seem like it is rigidly connected to the bolt of the weapon. Recharging is carried out by pulling the shutter back and turning it. In other words, the design of the weapon is the simplest, perhaps even simpler than a slingshot.
Much more interesting is the ammunition for this weapon. Only two types of shots have been developed for the DP-63 grenade launcher. The variant with the designation SG-43 is an illuminating ammunition. When the grenade body hits the water, an expelling charge is triggered, which pushes out a pyrotechnic torch, the burning duration of which is 50 seconds. Such ammunition is needed, both for marking the location of the enemy swimmer, and for making amendments before using an already high-explosive ammunition.
Shooting with a high-explosive grenade is also not so easy. Its fuse can be set in two positions: for shallow and large depths, depending on what depth the swimmer is at. This ammunition is designated FG-43. After the grenade hits the water surface, the fuse is triggered, if it was installed at a shallow depth, then the detonation occurs at a depth of about 10-15 meters, with a guaranteed defeat of the swimmer at a distance of 14 meters from the explosion site. When the fuse is installed at a great depth, the grenade explosion occurs already at a depth of 25-30 meters. That is, we get coverage in depth up to 45 meters.
The mass of the DP-63 grenade launcher is 10 kilograms without shots, the weight of the shot itself is 650 grams. The total length of the weapon is 830 millimeters, while the length of the barrels is 600 millimeters. Sighting range of fire up to 400 meters. If I correctly understood the principle of the fuse, then it is allowed to fire on land, the main thing is that the head of the grenade meets an obstacle, the only nuance will be only the delay before the explosion, however, how effective it will be without being hit by shrapnel …
Conclusion
As it is easy to see, domestic multi-row hand grenade launchers cannot boast of their diversity. Of course, this weapon is not so widespread, and the tasks for such products are not daily. Yes, and those tasks that exist can be solved with single-shot weapon options. But, despite this, it is difficult to argue that in some situations such a hand grenade launcher can be more effective, which means that such a weapon, if not necessary, is at least not superfluous. In the end, you just need to keep up with other countries, and at the moment, the lag in hand grenade launchers is becoming obvious, and not in the number of different weapon options, but in the principle of the same grenade launcher shots. But about modern foreign hand grenade launchers - in another article.
Sources of photos and information:
zonwar.ru
weaponland.ru
kbptula.ru
russianarms.ru
