M79 grenade launcher

The M79 grenade launcher is a shoulder-fired standalone breech-loading 40mm launcher developed during the Vietnam War. It uses a low-recoil 40mm grenade round developed as part of project NIBLICK, a sub-project of the SALVO (which does not stand for anything) and SPIW (Special Purpose Individual Weapon) advanced weapon trials run by the US military. This round used the high-low recoil mitigation system developed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, allowing a large projectile to be fired with manageable recoil. The result would be a grenade round with greater range, accuracy and convenience than a rifle grenade, while remaining more portable than a light mortar.
SPIW was intended to produce a combination of a flechette-firing rifle and a multi-shot grenade launcher, but while technical problems dogged the main project, one of Springfield's grenade launcher prototypes, a single-shot break-open launcher called S-3 that resembled a giant shotgun, showed promise. Its competitor, the three-shot magazine-fed T148 (not related to the XM148 grenade launcher) proved too complex and too unreliable, and the Army chose a refined version of the S-3, the S-5, as their new weapon, the XM79. With the further addition of a new sight, the weapon was adopted as the M79 in December 1960, thus beginning the curious tendency of American advanced rifle projects to produce grenade launchers instead of rifles. This was later continued by the SPIW program's M203, the OICW program's XM25, and the OICW Increment 1 (XM8) program's M320. 
It was well-liked in Vietnam where it was regarded as "the platoon leader's artillery" and its distinctive thoomp report led to nicknames like "blooper" and "thumper." 
While the M79 is relatively light, weighing just six and a half pounds loaded, it is 29 inches long, meaning that it had to be issued as a primary weapon to dedicated grenadiers. As a result, over time it was largely replaced by the underbarrel M203 in service, though it is still used today in niche roles due to its superior accuracy and range. The weapon is sometimes seen with its stock and / or barrel sawed down to make it handier, though this limits its accuracy. It is known that American DEVGRU operators use a pistol-length version fitted with a reflex sight, affectionately known as the "pirate gun."
A similar tube magazine-fed pump-action weapon, the China Lake Launcher, was developed for use by Navy SEALS.
=Specifications=
(1961-present)
Type: Grenade Launcher
Caliber: 40x46mm (M79), 37mm (Spike's Tactical Thumper)
Capacity: 1 (breech loaded)
Fire Modes: Single shot
==Film==
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note 	Date
The Green Berets 	 	U.S. Special Forces 	 	1968
Apocalypse Now 	Herb Rice 	The Roach 	With tiger-stripe paint scheme	1979
Uncommon Valor 	 	LRRP Team member 	 	1983
Missing In Action 	Chuck Norris 	Col. James Braddock 	 	1984
Missing In Action 	 	Vietnamese Assassin 	 	1984
Wheels of Fire 	 	Scourge's Men 	 	1985
Latino 	 	Contras soldier 	 	1985
The Park is Mine 	Tommy Lee Jones 	Mitch 	 	1985
The Park is Mine 	Jong Soo Park 	Tran Chan Dinh 	 	1985
Platoon 	Andrew B. Clark 	Tubbs 	 	1986
Platoon 	 	US Army soldiers 	 	1986
King Kong Lives 	 	US Army soldiers 	 	1986
Demon of Paradise 	 	Soldier 	 	1987
Hamburger Hill 	Don James 	McDaniel 	 	1987
Hamburger Hill 	Tim Quill 	Pvt. Joe Beletsky 	 	1987
Full Metal Jacket 	 	U.S. Marines 	 	1987
Casualties of War 	Michael J. Fox 	PFC Max Eriksson 	 	1989
Casualties of War 	Don Harvey 	Cpl. Thomas E. Clark 	 	1989
The Siege of Firebase Gloria 	Wings Hauser 	Cpl. DiNardo 	 	1989
The Siege of Firebase Gloria 	R. Lee Ermey 	Sgt. Maj. Bill Hafner 	 	1989
Born on the Fourth of July 	 	A US marine 	 	1989
Bullet in the Head 	 	ARVN soldiers 	 	1990
Marked for Death 	Tom Wright 	Charles 	 	1990
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation	Jody Abrahams 	Pango 	 	1990
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation	Dwayne Alexandre 	Carl Brackston 	 	1990
Terminator 2: Judgement Day 	Arnold Schwarzenegger	T-800 	With & without shattered stock	1991
Hard Target 	Arnold Vosloo 	Van Cleef 	 	1993
Never Say Die 	 	A police officer 	 	1994
Soldier Boyz 	 	Vinh Moc's soldier 	 	1995
The Walking Dead 	Vonte Sweet 	Pfc. Joe Brooks 	 	1995
The Rage 	Tiani Warden 	Cyndi 	 	1997
Wild Zero 	Makoto Inamiya 	Captain 	 	1999
Going Back 	Jaimz Woolvett 	Tex Atkins 	 	2001
We Were Soldiers 	Blake Heron 	Spc. Galen Bungum 	 	2002
We Were Soldiers 	 	U.S. 1st Cavalry soldiers 	 	2002
Hellboy 	 	 	Seen in arsenal case 	2004
Typhoon 	 	ROKN UDT/SEAL commandos 	 	2005
Watchmen 	Jeffrey Dean Morgan 	The Comedian 	With smoke rounds 	2009
The Marine 2 	 	Arms dealer 	 	2009
The Expendables 	Dolph Lundgren 	Gunnar Jansen 	With laser pointer 	2010
MacGruber 	 	Von Cunth's man 	 	2010
Machine Gun Preacher 	 	LRA troops 	 	2011
I Am Number Four 	Teresa Palmer 	Number Six 	 	2011
Battleground 	Bob Cymbalski 	Texas 	 	2012
Ragnarok 	Sofia Helin 	Elisabeth 	As improvised harpoon 	2013
Ragnarok 	Nicolai Cleve Broch 	Allan 	 	2013
Mad Max: Fury Road 	Jon Iles 	The Ace 	 	2015
Hardcore Henry 	Oleg Poddubniy 	Yuri 	 	2016
the Post 	 	U.S. Marines 	 	2017
Kong: Skull Island 	Shea Whigham 	Captain Earl Cole 	 	2017
John Wick: Chapter 2 	 	 	Seen in armory 	2017
Malay Regiment 	 	17th Royal Malay Regiment troopers	 	2017
Malay Regiment 	 	Communist guerillas 	 	2017
Extraction 	Chris Hemsworth 	Tyler Rake 	 	2020
Birds of Prey 	Margot Robbie 	Harley Quinn 	 	2020
==Television==
Title 	Actor 	Character 	Note 	Air Date
Tour of Duty 	 	US Army soldiers 	 	1987 - 1989
Zero Hour (2004) 	 	West Side Boys member	"SAS Mission Impossible" (S3E01) 	2004-2006
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 	Summer Glau 	Cameron Phillips 	"Dungeons and Dragons" 	2008 - 2009
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 	Brian Austin Green	Derek Reese 	"Mouse Trap" 	2008 - 2009
KochiKame 	Mokomichi Hayami 	Keiichi Nakagawa 	(Ep. 08) 	2009
Iris - Season 1 	 	 	Seen in IRIS base 	2009
Ultimate Weapons 	 	Soldiers 	"Firepower"; archive footage 	2009 - 2011
Fear the Walking Dead - Season 3 	Daniel Sharman 	Troy Otto 	"Brother’s Keeper" (S3E12) 	2017
Fear the Walking Dead - Season 3 	Frank Dillane 	Nicholas Clark 	"This Land Is Your Land" (S3E13) 	2017
The Continental: From the World of John Wick	 	 	seen in armory; "Brothers in Arms" (S1E01)	2023
==Video Games==
| Resident Evil 2 || Grenade Launcher || With Pistol Grip || || 1998
|-
| The Operative: No One Lives Forever || || || || 2000
|-
| Resident Evil Survivor || Grenade Gun || || || 2000
|-
| Fallout Tactics ||Grenade Launcher || || || 2001
|-
| Max Payne || Grenade Launcher || || || 2001
|-
| Resident Evil: Code Veronica || Grenade Launcher || || || 2001
|-
| The World Is Not Enough || GL 40 || || || 2001
|-
| The Getaway || || || || 2002
|-
| Vietcong|| || || || 2003
|-
| Postal 2 || Grenade Launcher || || Fires M26 hand grenades || 2003
|-
| Battlefield Vietnam || || w/ camo paint || || 2004
|-
| Time Crisis: Crisis Zone || "Grenade" || || Depicted with a rather slow bullet velocity || 2004
|-
| Driver 3 || || || || 2004
|-
| Shellshock Nam '67 || || || || 2004
|-
| Conflict: Vietnam || || || || 2004
|-
| Cold Fear || M79 || || Sawed-off barrel and stock || 2005
|-
| Vietcong 2 || || || || 2005
|-
| Elite Warriors Vietnam|| || || || 2005
|-
| Driver: Parallel Lines || || || || 2006
|-
| Scarface: The World is Yours || || || || 2006
|-
| Time Crisis IV || "Grenade" || Sawed-off barrel, with pistol grip || Appears as a weapon icon in arcade mode || 2006
|-
|Eternal Damnation||"M79 GrenadeLauncher"|| || ||2006
|-
| Team Fortress 2 || "Loch and Load" || With over/under double barrels||Erroneously holds 3 rounds at a time || 2007
|-
| 7.62 High Calibre || || || || 2008
|-
| Far Cry 2 || || || || 2008
|-
|Xenus 2: White Gold|| || || ||2008
|-
| Counter-Strike Online || M79 Saw-Off || Shortened barrel & cut-off stock; classified as a pistol; comes with a gold-plated variant || || 2009
|-
| Left 4 Dead 2 || Grenade Launcher || Optional laser sight || || 2009
|-
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2||Thumper||||||2009
|-
| Killing Floor || || || || 2009
|-
| 1968 Tunnel Rats (VG) || || || || 2009
|-
| Terminator Salvation || || with M4-style stock || || 2009
|-
| Wheelman || Grenade Launcher || || Shown to be muzzle loaded || 2009
|-
| Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam || || ||Featured with a tiger-stripe finish || 2010
|-
| Fallout: New Vegas || Grenade Rifle || Extended barrel available as an upgrade || ||2010
|-
| Payday: The Heist || GL40 || || || 2011
|-
| Uncharted: Golden Abyss || M79 ||w/ pistol grip || || 2011
|-
| Jagged Alliance: Back in Action || M79 || || || 2012
|-
| Medal of Honor: Warfighter || M79 || Cut-down "pirate pistol" configuration || || 2012
|-
| Project Reality: Falklands || || Firing HE and smoke rounds || || 2012
|-
| Project Reality: Vietnam || || Firing HE, smoke, and buckshot rounds || || 2012
|-
| Ravaged || || || || 2012
|-
| Grand Theft Auto V || Compact Grenade Launcher || Sawed-off || || 2013
|-
| Payday 2 || GL40 || || || 2013
|-
| Far Cry 4 || || || || 2014
|-
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly || M79 || || || 2014
|-
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades || M79 Thumper || || || 2016
|-
| Shadow Warrior 2 || One Trick Pony || || || 2016
|-
| Mafia III || || || || 2016
|-
| Rising Storm 2: Vietnam || |||| || 2017
|-
| Far Cry 5 || M-79 || Sawed-off |||| 2018
|-
| Fallout 76 || M79 Grenade Launcher || Sawed-off || Stock and barrel can be restored || 2018
|-
| Insurgency: Sandstorm || M79 || || added in 2023 Update 1.15 || 2018
|-
| Far Cry New Dawn ||M-79|| Sawed-off |||| 2019
|-
| Caliber|| || || || 2019
|-
| Resident Evil 2 (2019) ||"GM 79"|| Pistol-grip; full-length stock and leaf sight can be attached as upgrades |||| 2019
|-
| Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War || M79 || || || 2020
|-
| Far Cry 6 || M-79 || Sawed-off |||| 2021
|-
| Marauders (video game) || "Mini Thumper" || Sawed-off || Added in United Allies update in 2023 || 2022
|-
| Military Conflict: Vietnam || || || || 2022
|-
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. GAMMA || || || || 2022
|-
| Arizona Sunshine 2 || || || w/ glow sights and lacking ladder sight || 2023
|-
|}
==Anime==
Title 	Character 	Note 	Date
Black Magic M-66 	Spec-Ops Commandos	 	1987
Appleseed 	Deunan Knute 	Fitted with red dot scope 	1988
The Abashiri Family 	Kichiza Abashiri 	"Explosion of violence!! We don't have justice!" (E01)	1991
New Dominion Tank Police	Criminal 	 	1993
Cowboy Bebop 	Henchman 	 	1998 - 1999
Cowboy Bebop 	Outlaw 	 	1998 - 1999
Black Lagoon 	Revy 	 	2006
When They Cry: Rei 	Kasai 	 	2009
Coppelion 	Kanon Ozu 	 	2013
Lupin Zero 	Gaucho 	Ep. "Young Lupin Calls Himself "the Third" 	2022 - 2023
==Animation==
Title 	Voice Actor	Characters	Notation 	Date
Love, Death & Robots - Season 3	 	 	seen in armory; "Kill Team Kill" (S3E05)	2022
Category:Gun
Category:Grenade Launcher