page_title: M79 grenade launcher
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: M79 grenade launcher / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: M79 grenade launcher Polski: Amerykański granatnik M79
context_page_description: The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War. Because of its distinctive report, it has earned the nicknames of "Thumper", "Thump-Gun", "Bloop Tube", "Big Ed", "Elephant Gun," and "Blooper" among American soldiers as well as "Can Cannon" in reference to the grenade size; Australian units referred to it as the "Wombat Gun". The M79 can fire a wide variety of 40 mm rounds, including explosive, anti-personnel, smoke, buckshot, flechette, and illumination. While largely replaced by the M203, the M79 has remained in service in many units worldwide in niche roles.
context_section_description: Visually, the M79 grenade launcher resembles a large bore, break-action, sawed-off shotgun, and is simple in design, having only five major parts: a receiver group, a fore-end assembly, a barrel group, a sight assembly, and a stock. The fore-end assembly beds the barrel to the receiver. The stock is made out of wood or fiberglass. A rubber pad affixed to the buttstock absorbs some recoil. The front sight is a fixed blade. The rear sight on the M79 is a folding ladder–style leaf sight. When folded, the leaf sight acts as a fixed sight at close range. A grenadier may simply point and shoot with high accuracy. When unfolded, the leaf sight can be adjusted for ranges from 75 to 375 meters, in 25-meter increments.  Additionally, Appendix A of the U.S. Army field manual for the M203 includes instructions on attaching the M16 rifle grenade sight to the M79's stock and marking the sling for indirect fire at elevations greater than 40°.
  While not manufacturers of the M79, Milcor and Denel Mechem of South Africa do re-manufacture M-79 grenade launchers to more modern standards. They replace the leaf sight with an optical one and replace the wooden stock with a modified R-4/R-5 stock.
caption: M79
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