WWI rifle grenade launcher

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Niner
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WWI rifle grenade launcher

Post by Niner » Tue Apr 13, 2021 12:18 pm

I posted about this sometime in the past ...long past... and the images are gone.

The British in WWI produced a grenade cup that would fit on a 1 Mark 3 rifle by the simple method of turning a 2 and a half inch wide cup until a screw with clasps tightened up on the muzzle of the rifle. The device launched a special Mills Bomb grenade with a disk shaped butt end. With a blank cartridge the rifle, butt firmly planted on the ground, could launch such a grenade between 80 and 200 yards. The distance was controlled by angle of barrel and by moving a gas release at the base of the cup.

Here's a good video produced for an auction several years ago. Now days the launcher cups go for around $150, although they were thrown in for free if you bought a wire wrap rifle once upon a time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT1DyyCxf9Q
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Miller Tyme
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Re: WWI rifle grenade launcher

Post by Miller Tyme » Wed Apr 14, 2021 6:29 am

Pretty cool Robert, now to get some blanks and some tennis balls. :lol:
“The only real power comes out of a long rifle" - Joseph Stalin
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joseyclosey
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Re: WWI rifle grenade launcher

Post by joseyclosey » Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:02 pm

Miller Tyme wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 6:29 am Pretty cool Robert, now to get some blanks and some tennis balls. :lol:
What a good idea MT :D
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Niner
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Re: WWI rifle grenade launcher

Post by Niner » Fri May 27, 2022 10:19 am

I saw this facebook post of a photo of a soldier in WWII in Burma or some other such South Pacific location with a grenade wrap rifle without the cup. I hit a google and found this really interesting exposition of how these grenade launching rifles worked and what was expected of them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT1DyyCxf9Q
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Aughnanure
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Re: WWI rifle grenade launcher

Post by Aughnanure » Fri May 27, 2022 9:08 pm

They were also the soldier’s using rifle and were in all respects, other than the safety wire, a normal rifle.
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

Eoin.
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