Revolving hand grenade launchers have long established themselves as effective and relatively compact weapons. Of course, such a device cannot be hidden in your pocket, and with ammunition it weighs not at all like a feather. But everything is learned in comparison, and the ability to throw grenade launcher shots at the enemy's position at a fairly large distance with a relatively high rate of fire negates all the far-fetched disadvantages in the form of discomfort during transportation.
Revolver-type grenade launchers have gained considerable popularity in cinema and in computer games, so we can talk about that rare exception when the effect on the screen is comparable to the effectiveness in reality.
If we talk about efficiency, then, as elsewhere, the main characteristics are laid down by the ammunition used, while the weapon itself is only a means of delivery to the target. In this article, we will approach the issue somewhat "from behind" and try to consider hand grenade launchers in the context of their design, namely, revolving hand grenade launchers. Well, in order to at least slightly equalize them in terms of characteristics, we will consider designs that feed on shots with a caliber of 40 millimeters.
There will be no comparison and the result in the form of choosing the best hand-held revolver-type grenade launcher, since for such conclusions it is necessary at least to have access to all the samples under consideration with the possibility of checking them at the test site. But it is possible to point out the obvious disadvantages and advantages of the design.
Milkor MGL, or М32 MGL
After the purchase and quite successful use of the American M79 hand grenade launchers in South Africa, the military countries puzzled the designers: it was necessary to eliminate the main drawback of such weapons, namely single-shot. The solution to the problem was not long in coming, especially since the solution itself was on the surface and has been known for more than a dozen years. Taking the revolving power supply system of the weapon as a basis, the designers made a prototype of a hand grenade launcher in just one year. And two years later, in 1983, serial production of a hand-held revolving grenade launcher, known to us as MGL, had already begun.
The design of the weapon was modified several times: in 1998, in 2004 and in 2008. However, nothing fundamentally new was done, except for the fact that in 2004 two variants of weapons with the designations L and S appeared, which differed from the first models in shape drum, and apart from each other the length of the chamber. It is these grenade launchers that are currently being mass-produced, and in the US Army they are used under the designation M32. It turns out that once the United States gave South Africa its M79, and a few years later South Africa gave the United States M32 MGL. Here is such a cycle of hand grenade launchers in nature.
Since at the moment only variants of grenade launchers of 1998 and 2004 are widespread, we will give figures for them.
All three variants of grenade launchers are powered from a drum with six chambers, 40x46 grenade launchers. The 1998 modification of the grenade launcher has the designation MGL Mk. I. Its weight without ammunition is 5.3 kilograms. The length of the weapon varies from 630 to 730 millimeters, depending on how far the butt is extended, which achieves the adjustment of the weapon to the shooter's build. The first variants had a fixed-length buttstock folding upwards.
Two variants of 2004 grenade launchers have the following characteristics. The MGL Mk. I S model boasts a weight of 5.6 kilograms. The weapon has grown fat due to the fact that the drum has been changed, the outer surface of which is now wavy and does not collect dirt. The length with the butt extended / extended is 674/775 millimeters. A variant of the weapon with the letter L in the name. The main difference between this weapon and the two previous models lies in the elongated drum chambers, which have grown from 105 millimeters to 140. Accordingly, the weight of the weapon increased, which became equal to 6 kilograms, but the hand grenade launcher was able to use a wider range of ammunition. The length of the weapon with the butt extended / extended is 674/775 millimeters.
It will be useful to clarify that there is another modification of this revolver-type hand grenade launcher, dating back to 2008, namely the MRGL. As far as I understand, this development is no longer limited to Milkor. This weapon is designed both for the use of standard ammunition, their extended versions, and 40x51 rounds with a higher flight speed. That is, the weapons, roughly speaking, are the same, but the shots are different. If we consider the grenade launcher externally, then the main thing that differs from its predecessors is the barrel length, which has decreased from 300 millimeters to 260. Slightly (by 4 millimeters) the drum chambers have become shorter, which led to the fact that the weapon can be powered by all ammunition based on the 40x46 grenade launcher shot and their elongated versions, plus new "faster" ammunition. With all this, the dimensions of the hand-held grenade launcher remained within the limits of its "short" versions: 676 and 756 millimeters for the extended and extended stock.
The numbers are good, but the design of this grenade launcher is much more interesting. In the process of working on a new weapon, Milkor designers faced the problem of turning the drum. Such a massive part did not want to turn as in a revolver, under the action of the shooter's muscular strength, when the trigger was pulled or the trigger was pulled, and it was prohibitively expensive to put a high-quality expander in each set of weapons. The solution to this problem also turned out to be known: the actuation of the weapon drum with a spring, which is compressed when the grenade launcher is reloaded.
Despite the simplicity of this solution, the designers of the Milkor company decided to slightly complicate the work scheme, and at the same time the life of subsequent users of the weapon. The ratchet mechanism of the drum is released at the moment of the shot, and the piston, driven by the propellant gases of the expelling charge, is responsible for this moment. For the consumer, this meant more complicated cleaning of the weapon, which is not such a big problem. A much bigger problem is that turning a not at all light drum when firing affects the accuracy of firing, and although the grenade launcher is not a sniper rifle at all, this drawback still has to be taken into account.
At the moment, a huge number of ammunition has been developed based on the 40x46 round, from high-explosive fragmentation to ammunition equipped with rubber shots or irritating mucous substances. Recent developments include a shot that houses a camera and a small parachute. In theory, such a device should help navigate the battlefield, giving an idea of the location and movement of the enemy. In practice, the camera lens cannot show a large area of the war zone, since the camera itself is relatively low. In other words, while you are looking at a muddy picture on a small screen, trying to understand where is the top and where is the bottom, the enemy can slowly approach at arm's length.
Much more interesting is the grenade launcher shot, which launches an illuminating rocket, only it shines in the infrared range of night vision devices, which gives an excellent view at night. True, if the enemy also has a night vision system, then he will see no worse.
At the moment, MGL hand grenade launchers are widespread in NATO countries, and are actively used outside this block. Production is established both in Europe and in Africa, and, of course, in China. This grenade launcher is considered the direct and only competitor of the domestic RG-6, often making comparisons, although in this case it is necessary not so much to compare weapons as ammunition. In addition, the MGL is not the only hand-held revolver-type grenade launcher, although it is quite common.
Hand grenade launcher MM-1
Of course, looking at the success of designers from South Africa, American gunsmiths could not stand aside. In 1985, Hawk Engineering proposed its own version of the revolving grenade launcher. It would be strange to do the same as in South Africa, and there were not many options for improving the design. In this case, we can safely say that the best is the enemy of the good and here's why.
In order to surpass the product of African colleagues, it was decided to make a weapon with a more capacious drum, and half measures in the form of an increase to 7-8 chambers in the drum were considered insufficient and, having decided to walk like that, made a grenade launcher with a drum in which 12 shots were placed. This did not affect the mass of the weapon itself. Thanks to plastic and light alloys, the grenade launcher weighs 5.7 kilograms without shots. But if you take 220 grams for the mass of a shot, then you get entertaining mathematics: 5.7+ (0.22 * 12) = 8.34 kilograms.
But the mass of weapons is far from the main drawback, much more important is the mass of the drum with shots. The basis for this hand grenade launcher was the exact same system that was used in a similar weapon from South Africa. That is, in order for the drum to move during firing, when reloading, you need to compress the spring of the drum, and the release of the spring occurs under the action of the propellant gases of the expelling charge. As you might guess, in the design of the grenade launcher itself, the heaviest part is the drum, to which the weight of 12 shots is added. In the process of firing, all this mass will try to divert the weapon to the side, which will negatively affect the accuracy of the fire.
It would be quite natural to note that the hand grenade launcher is not only not a sniper rifle, but also not a machine gun, and when introducing amendments for weapon withdrawal, as well as with normal aiming before each shot, you can spit on all these negative moments from the high bell tower. But there is one detail in this weapon that distinguishes it from both the South African development and from all revolver-type hand grenade launchers. The MM-1 grenade launcher can fire in burst.
As is already clear from the number of chambers in the drum of the weapon, American designers do not recognize half-measures, and if they are to improve, then to improve in full. The rate of fire is small - 150 rounds per minute, however, the rotation of the drum, even at this rate of fire, will already have a significant effect. Also, don't forget about the recoil while shooting.
The ability to conduct automatic fire from this weapon would be more than justified when installing such grenade launchers on vehicles, machine tools, and so on, in "manual mode", it seems to me, this is more likely an irrational consumption of ammunition.
It would be unfair to talk about the design flaws, but keep silent about its advantages. As mentioned above, it is possible to overcome the design flaw when the drum turns immediately after the shot, which has been proven by the quite successful and accurate use of this weapon, so if you do not find fault, then you can turn a blind eye to it. This design also has one remarkable feature that can be very useful in case of an emergency situation. So, if after pressing the trigger the weapon did not react in any way, then you can try to shoot again or wait until the weapon fires, in case of a protracted shot. The situation is rare, but possible, that is, until a shot occurs, the drum remains stationary. If we draw a parallel with the mechanism of operation of the RG-6, then there may be options, but more on that below.
As mentioned above, the mass of an unloaded MM-1 hand grenade launcher is 5.7 kilograms. Power is supplied from a 12-chamber drum with 40x46 shots, while the use of longer ammunition is impossible. The length of the weapon is 635 millimeters without a stock. Stocks can be mounted from AR-15 rifles and the like. Reloading is carried out by folding the rear of the grenade launcher to the side together with the pistol grip for holding. Like other six-shot grenade launchers, the drum is loaded one shot at a time, while the drum spring can be cocked separately.
The weapon turned out to be oversized and completely inconvenient for transportation due to the drum. Despite this, the MM-1 grenade launcher was put into service with the US Army, but did not receive widespread and widespread fame outside the homeland, but in games and films it is a fairly frequent guest, which creates the wrong feeling of its widespread distribution.
Bulgarian hand grenade launcher "Avalanche", aka Avalanche MSGL
In 1993, the Arsenal arms company completed work on its version of a revolving hand grenade launcher. Obviously, the start of development was given by the success of a foreign model from Africa and the beginning of work on a similar weapon in Russia. But on the arms market, the principle of "who got up first and sneakers" does not always work. Despite the fact that the production of this grenade launcher was started before the RG-6, it did not receive wide distribution, although it is a very interesting weapon in terms of its combination of characteristics.
First of all, it should be noted the very small dimensions of the Avalanche hand grenade launcher (not to be confused with the Soviet TKB-0218). This is, without exaggeration, the most compact example of such a weapon. Its length with the stock folded is only 388 millimeters, with the stock unfolded 525 millimeters. Such compact dimensions are explained very simply - the weapon is rather not a revolving type, but a pepperbox, that is, it does not have a barrel as a separate part. Having estimated that the length of the drum chamber and the presence of grooves in it is quite enough for the weapon to have at least some accuracy for its niche of use, they decided to remove the barrel from the structure. The result of "circumcision" did not significantly affect the combat characteristics of the weapon, in short, everything is like that of people.
The mass of the grenade launcher after removing the barrel did not decrease, since for a convenient hold of the weapon while shooting, it was necessary to make a forend under the drum. The weight of the hand-held grenade launcher "Avalanche" in the unloaded position is 6, 3 kilograms, with a full drum, the mass of the weapon is about 7, 8 kilograms. The drum has 6 chambers in which VOG-25 shots and the like are placed.
A plate with a hole in front of the upper chamber is placed in front of the drum, through this hole both the weapon is discharged and its equipment is alternately in each chamber of the drum. The drum turns during the process of equipping, which compresses the spring, which is the main element that drives the drum in motion during the firing process. The discharge of the weapon is again made one shot at a time, for which there is a pusher at the bottom of each chamber, when pressed, the shot is removed from the weapon. Pressing is done using the button on the left side of the weapon, located above the fuse switch.
The firing mechanism of the double-action self-cocking grenade launcher, unfortunately, was not possible to find out whether it was hammer or striker. The principle of operation of the grenade launcher is similar to that of the RG-6. When the trigger is pulled, the cocking and disengagement of the percussion mechanism occurs, which leads to a shot, after the trigger is released by the shooter, the drum spring turns the drum 60 degrees, substituting a new shot for the striker hit. Since the design of the grenade launcher shots is "caseless", after using up the ammunition, you can immediately proceed to equip the weapon, without wasting time on removing the spent cartridges. However, as the practice of using other grenade launchers shows, such a procedure does not take much time, or rather it does not take any time at all, since after opening the drum, the casings themselves fall under their own weight. The only inconvenience associated with this is that you can trip over them.
To ensure a more comfortable perception of recoil by the shooter, the butt of the grenade launcher is equipped with a damper that stretches the recoil moment, in addition to it, a rubber pad is installed on the butt of the weapon, which also plays the role of a shock absorber.
Separately, it should be noted that such a grenade launcher design does not allow for an easy transition of weapons to NATO standard ammunition, where the shots have a cartridge case, as a result, it is easier to make a new weapon than to try to modernize the old one.
This grenade launcher is used by both the armed forces of Bulgaria and law enforcement agencies in combination with non-lethal grenade launchers, and this grenade launcher is also offered for export, but is not in great demand.
To be objective, the weapons of the Bulgarian designers turned out to be quite good, albeit with an unusual appearance. On the other hand, you cannot marry a grenade launcher, and if it fully meets all the requirements that the military imposes on it and has sufficient efficiency, that is, there is a barrel in it, there is no barrel in it, it’s the tenth thing. The only drawback, or rather a feature of the weapon, is that the gear comes through a hole in the front shield in front of the drum. In other models of grenade launchers, where the drum swings to the side, you can pre-compress the spring of the drum, and then insert shots into the chambers one by one. In the Avalanche hand grenade launcher, the rotation and loading procedure alternates, which increases the reload time of the weapon in comparison with other samples.
Hand grenade launcher RG-6
Well, finally we got to the domestic product. We owe the appearance of the RG-6 hand grenade launcher in service to the designers V. N. Telesh and B. A. Borzov. It should be noted that the work of the designers was rather hasty. In November 1993, a task was issued for a new weapon, and already in March 1994, a trial batch of weapons was released, which was immediately sent for testing, and the tests were not limited only to the proving ground, the new grenade launcher was also tested in hostilities in Chechnya. There, the grenade launcher received only positive reviews and, taking into account the wishes of not the command, but the final consumer of the weapon, the RG-6 began to be mass-produced. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find reliable information about the use of grenade launchers of a similar design by the opposing side, but with all that motley zoo of weapons, there is no doubt that it was, because the RG-6 was clearly not superfluous on the battlefield.
If we talk about some specific features or innovations in the design of weapons, then something cannot be distinguished. Everything was implemented earlier in other samples, of a different class, but if you take into account the time that was spent on the development of weapons, it becomes clear that the designers were not required to invent, they were required to do.
You need to start with the drum of the grenade launcher. The drum consists of 6 chambers, each of which has 12 grooves. The bottom of the chamber is deaf, there are only holes for the entry of the drummer and for the ejector rod for discharging the weapon. The drum of the grenade launcher is driven by a torsion coil spring. The twisting of the spring is carried out manually, when the drum is equipped with shots. For reloading, the drum, together with the butt and the handle for holding, turns to the side up.
The barrel of the weapon has no grooves, a simple aiming device is installed on it, and an additional handle for holding it from below.
The trigger mechanism of the RG-6 grenade launcher is self-cocking hammer, has its own interesting features. The striker itself is in direct contact with the primer of the grenade launcher and is held by it in its rear position. With a very small mass of the striker, this solution turned out to be quite safe, neither falls nor impacts lead to an unexpected weapon firing, but at least one spring was eliminated from the design. The second feature is that after the shot, the drum remains in place, just like in the Bulgarian Avalanche grenade launcher, the drum is rotated when the trigger is released.
Protection against an accidental shot is organized by means of a safety switch, plus a kind of protection is the effort when you press the trigger. In addition, the safety of handling weapons is ensured by an automatic safety device that locks the trigger when the barrel block is not completely closed.
On the Internet, you can often find stories about how, with a prolonged shot, in different variations: a) everyone was killed; b) the weapon was thrown away and no one was injured; c) any other option, up to "a bear ran out of the forest, lay down on a grenade launcher and saved everyone." The stories are interesting, colorful, overgrown every time with new details. Indeed, the solution with turning the drum during the reverse stroke of the trigger is not the most successful in such a non-standard situation. Nevertheless, it remains not entirely clear why, knowing this feature of your weapon, in case of pressing the trigger and not feeling and not seeing the expected result, release this very trigger. If you already release the trigger, you can look into the barrel to see what is already there, you never know what is stuck.
To reduce the length of the RG-6 hand grenade launcher, the butt is movable, in the stowed position the length of the weapon is 520 millimeters, in the firing position 680 millimeters. The mass of the grenade launcher without shots is 5, 6 kilograms. Sights are designed for firing up to 400 meters, however, at maximum distances, for aiming the butt has to be clamped under the armpit. The resource of the weapon is from 2500 to 3000 shots, which is a very good result for a hand grenade launcher.
To be objective, the RG-6 is a rather crude weapon. A pair of tubes, a barrel-drum unit and a trigger from the GP-25, despite this, the grenade launcher is at least not inferior to foreign competitors in anything. The advantage of this weapon is the price, which is significantly lower than its South African counterpart. During its short time of existence, the RG-6 hand-held grenade launcher has shown itself to be a fairly reliable and effective weapon, easy to learn and maintain, although not without drawbacks in the form of small parts that can be lost when servicing the grenade launcher in the field.
Conclusion
I foresee criticism in the designation of individual elements of the weapon indicated in the article. In particular, the designation by the trunk of what is inherently not a trunk, but only looks like it. So, for example, in the same RG-6, the sights and the handle for holding are located on the false barrel, while the drum chambers are just the barrels of the weapon with a rifled part. There is nothing to counteract this, except that the arrangement of these elements in the structure. Therefore, it is probably more correct to designate such grenade launchers not as a revolving type weapon, but as a pepperbox grenade launcher, but it seems to me that this is not such an important nuance that should be focused on.
As is clear from the article, revolver-type grenade launchers for forty-millimeter rounds are weapons in demand, but there is no such variety as in other classes among their designs. The designs themselves are distinguished by the maximum simplicity and low cost, which can be explained by the cost of the shots. With expensive shots, expensive weapons are also an unaffordable luxury. Despite this, gunsmith designers still have room to move both in improving existing models and in developing new designs. The main disadvantage of revolver-type grenade launchers is their slow reloading one shot at a time, which still needs to be individually extracted. That is, even in the direction of developing additional devices, there is a lot to go.
Separately, it should be said about the range of ammunition. Despite the fact that for the most part the shots developed on the basis of 40x46 are far from successful, one variant in a dozen "shoots" and is accepted into service. It would seem that with the current abundance of options for domestic grenade launcher shots, all niches of application are blocked, but no one forbade striving for more. Lowering cameras on parachutes is, of course, too much, but there is still much to strive for, since at the moment we are becoming lagging behind in this regard.
Sources of photos and information:
weaponland.ru
modernweapon.ru
forum.guns.ru
