My dad was issued a grenade launcher for his M1 Carbine during WWII. He was in the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Late in the war, his gun crew surprised a German infantryman who made a hasty retreat. In the heat of the moment, my father fired on him with a rifle grenade. The grenade landed between the German's feet as he was running away. Luckily for him, my father had neglected to pull the pin! My dad was always glad it happened that way.
Maybe he did it on purpose? Still if those were his thoughts I gotta say your old man has a good heart. The way that story started I would have expected the worst, I wonder if the same soldier might still be around.
Possibly the only grenade launcher video on UA-cam that actually covers interesting topics and doesn't descend into mindless whooping and wanton destruction. Kudos.
Prior to the Normandy Invasion of WWII, General Eisenhower wanted to see a demonstration of the M1 Garand Rifle Grenade . My Father was a Master Sargent in the 29th Infantry and was ordered to do the demonstration. His 15 minutes of fame. Thank you both for your demo. You guys do a great job!
Modern tanks can still be knocked out by ww1 AT weaponry or even a well placed mortar, including a simple Molotov cocktail, if you can disable a vehicle, you can fight a war.
@@battlebae12 remind me I read in the war in the middle east where a Abraham tank was disable when the engine caught on fire because some random bullet bounced between the tank chic and somehow hit the right spot on the engine.
First - rifle grenade vs bazooka; don't forget that the 2.36 rocket projectile warhead was originallt designed as an improved rifle grenade. The rocket motor was added and a launcher developed. One can see an advantage of having both available. Second; when doing WW2 reenactments back in the 70's we borrowed some M1s from our local American Legion (used at funerals, etc). The Legion guy said they were having trouble with the blank cartridges sticking in the chamber (the DoD had drilled and welded the gas cylinders so they were single shot only). We discovered that the DoD had supplied with about hundreds of "grenade crimps" to be used as ceremonial blanks.
it's probably worth considering that GIs preferred these because soldiers like anything that's easier to carry, considering a minimal amount of them would actually be trying to take out a tank with them
G.I.'s came to appreciate the rifle grenade in, of all places, the urban environment. Driving through France and Germany, streets and alleys made for natural kill zones; snipers, hard cover, elevation superiority, time to prepare, the Germans had all the advantages. The rifle grenade allowed G.I.'s to clear rooms, basements, and provide indirect fire at the squad level.
Yep. And you didn't have to get quiet as up close and personal as you did with a hand grenade. The French also made extensive use of rifle grenades, usually three grenadiers per squad. Mighty handy to have.
Thank you greatly! My dad was the grenadier, walking point, when a German machine gun ambushed his squad. Dad said he almost fired the first grenade with a standard bullet in the chamber! He used all his grenades. Then it got silent. He was alone and out of ammunition. His German captors were especially anger at him when they found he was the grenadier. His POW experience affected our family for generations. Thx again for the detailed look at the grenade system.
Old Dog - i was gonna say, and low yield nuclear devices. Or high yield ones, for that matter........those were the corollaries i added in my high school days. They called me the Master of Overkill. Don't know why.......
I suppose an advantage of a slip on grenade is that, as shown with the mortar shell, you could strap just about anything to the projectile itself and be off to the races. I'd love to stick a comically large suction cup to the end of one.
@@theonlynontrollhere Imagine sitting there on a lovely 1944 day, in a lul in the fighting you're enjoying a sandwich and all of a sudden you hear a shot in the distance. you quickly decide it wasn't meant for you and take another bite. suddenly a 40 cm neon pink dildo appears out of seemingly nowhere and slams into your head.
1:17 the way the rifle subtly bends/wobbles like the wing of a plane in that slow motion footage is just so satisfying to me, I could watch it a thousand times
Massive cool factor, I love rifle grenades. Thanks for the video. I would like to mention grenadiers were trained to adjust the length of their sling and mark it in two places. With one foot on the sling, the stock planted, and the sling pulled tight, the marks would give you 30 or 45 degrees depending which mark you put the edge of your foot on. This is why the firing tables have columns for 30 and 45 degrees.
0:19 I thought they were talking about Covid19... but then I Saw the video was posted back in 2016. And that's when nostalgia hit. Those were good times.
I'm from The Netherlands. In early 1975 I fired a couple of anti-tank grenades with a Garand M1 on an old Sherman tank on ISK (Infantry shooting range) Harskamp. I was a conscripted infantry sergeant. I got the instruction of 2 senior sergeant-majors, KNIL (Royal Dutch Indies Army) war veterans that used this grenade launcher in battle. We had a different site on the grenade tap. It was a kind of thin metal ladder with distances. We were instructed to stretch the gun belt to full length, then put your left arm in the loop, let the gun-belt run over your body and behind the elbow of your right arm. Do NOT take the pistol grip of the weapon. Just make a fist of your right hand and point to the trigger with your index finger in the direction of your body. This way you are able to fire the anti-tank grenade standing or kneeling without breaking your thumb or your collar bone. With the second shot I was able to place the grenade just in the little gap between the turret and the body of the tank at 100 m. A young lieutenant sent both sergeant-majors for lunch and wanted to try a shot. Well he hadn't payed enough attention and took the pistol grip with his thumb behind the sight. Long story short.. he broke his thumb and had to go to hospital. So seeing you firing a grenade from the shoulder.. I would not do that! Some pictures of the event. ua-cam.com/video/aJXUGyA4_4c/v-deo.html
During the Namibian border war I fired a 103 mm shock type rifle grenade but.... upon firing the tail broke off and it impacted the ground about 3 meters from us. It exploded and I along with my mate got shrapnel in us. Needless to say I never trusted nor used it again.
@@Fred_the_1996 you have proof it's bullshit, anon? Because it looks pretty fucking credible to me. So why don't you quit your bullshit and show some damned respect.
My great grandfather was in basic training when he watched one guy mess up and put a live round in his M1 Grand while firing a Rifle Granade. He told me it wasn't a pretty sight. Luckily he didn't get hit by shrapnel but the guy firing wasn't lucky. That was the only death they had on that base.
@@chaseviking5096 I don't believe that story for a second. Explosives are expensive, so live grenades aren't often used in training. Not only that, but a lot of mistakes have to be made to mix in a live round with blanks.
During BCT in early 1957 we were trained to fire the rifle grenades with the M1.Something that we were taught that is not often mentioned in these vids is the fact that a lot of burning powder can be ejected when the grenade is fired.We were given old gas masks with the filter removed to protect our faces and eyes.But I never see that in these modern vids.Also we were taught to use the later sight and to shoot for max range even though the grenades were inert.Also some poster mentioned the 40 MM grenade launcher used in Vietnam.Once saw a demo.of rapid fire with a single shot gun.Firing at max range the shooter was able to get the third round in the air before the first one hit the ground.We were using training grenades when they hit they burst marking the hit with colored powder.Fun times to watch the grenades fly through the air.The old m79 only kicked about like a 12 gauge shotgun.
yea if i recall, he was firing the triple barrel chiappa threat during a halloween shotgun event. I also remember someone calling the gun the holy trinity
Do you think during certain war times they had an en block clip filled with launcher blanks so an individual soldier could fire eight grenades consecutively ?
I used to use one of these when playing Day of Defeat. Knowing the layout of the levels, I was able to bank them into interior rooms from the outside of a building where an enemy thought they were completely safe. Fun stuff.
Well...yes. But remember the normal grenade - even when mounted as a rifle grenade..was not terribly powerful. Hollywood makes them look like anything from a small firecracker to a 105 HE shell (depending on who is meant to win..and who is meant to die) but the weight restriction on ANYTHING meant to be hand thrown meant that any useable hand grenade was not going to be some super weapon. Many US Infantrymen in WW2 reportedly described the German stick grenade as "the noisemaker" As an "offensive grenade" it was particularly light.
Just watching this again and had an interesting thought. You guys ever thought of including the grenade launchers in a one off fun "Two Gun Match"? Be interesting to take into account "Blast Radius" (a circle on the ground it has to land in or an aperture it has to go through) to take out targets as part of the match.
Very very cool guys I like to think I am a gun junkie working 4 years in gun sales and a WWII junkie but this one was new to me. It’s so cool learning new things instead of just the same ol history lesson told 1 billion times. Keep it up!
THANKS for the Rumsfeld quote!!!!!!!! I still wonder what happened to the grunt who asked the question about the lack of armor that elicited Rummy's reply... I'd like to think he wasn't waterboarded in a black-site forever. AND: watching the rifle barrel whipping around at 1:27 was kind of freaky.
Probably the most informative videos Ive watched of you guys so far, some great wee facts in there I hadnt heard of before. Ive barely seen many photos from WW2 with them in use, or how grenadiers would carry them for that matter. Great stuff!
I read somewhere that many units prefered to bring around a M1903 for grenade use, since then they would not have to choose between lower firepower or slow response time for shooting grenades. I believe this is why you can find many images of squads with M1's and a single M1903, and not the "designated marksman" many think.
Glad you guys made this, like you said it's rare, could not find anyone else talking about these this much at all. If possible would love a follow up on the "fire through" types......
And if the regular grenade cartridge didn't get it far enough, there were booster cartridges to go in the base of the grenade assembly. According to the range tables, with the booster it added another 50 to 80 yards to the range. Max range with booster was 330 yards with the AT grenades. Or more than 3 football fields
Fun fact, the blue ones were actually designed for training. Around Vietnam we changed or color code system we used for ordnance to be able to quickly ID what type it is. Yellow bands for HE, Seafoam Green for WP, and blue for training, along with a myriad of others. The late production MKII pineapples that had a live filler were commonly painted solid yellow for the HE Filler.
From my experience with an M79 and 203, once you've fired them for a while it gets to be like throwing a baseball and you can almost do without the sights for getting a few rounds within say 10 or 20 meters of a point. I don't doubt that the same thing happened with guys who got good with the M1.
Awesome as always! Thanks for the history! The mud tests and matches are always great, but it's the videos like this that dive into firearms history that keep me a subscriber! Hope we are getting some new vignettes soon too!
wood1155 ive found quite a few things now , 20mm spitfire casings lots of .50 ammo hand grenades artillery shells ( which i left there of course :D) and a german SS bayonet and part of a motorcycle just in some woods with a metal detector
+Aquatictoaster If you think about it, pretty much everywhere you go in the world (with the exception of the North/South pole) someone has probably died there at some point in history. A bit morbid, but also fascinating.
i found it a year ago, its almost like brand new actually, the blade is still sharp and the scabbard almost didnt lose any paint, just the handle which i think is made of nickel is a little meh
That is awesome. I've personally found tons of random crap at old mines, everything from rails to electrical components to signs, 1930s license plates, and what I believe was the primary hoist control lever for the Federal Lead Co.'s No. 5 shaft. Unfortunately, the lever was a bit too bulky to take with us, or it would have gotten an oil bath and be on display with all the other stuff I've found.
I believe there was a rifle grenade which had a “bullet catcher” on it, so the energy of the bullet is transferred to the the base of the grenade & propels it forward.
This is a great video, guys. I've always wondered how it worked. Also, it's cool to see the rifle wobble in slo mo at 1:19. Never saw that before. Thanks!
Fall of 1965 at Hamilton AFB, Ca. On my way to 'Nam and we had M-16 training before going over (the M1 Carbine was the USAF's weapon of choice at the time). Grenade launching was part of the training. We screwed new fuzes into bodies that had a hole in the bottom. A small bag of powder and a cork finished it off. You got a nice BANG and nobody died if something untoward happened. SIGNIFICANT recoil - shoulder firing was strongly discouraged. The slings were marked to control the firing angle. I do remember one that went BANG as soon as the spoon flew off - nothing's perfect. Glad that it wasn't live. The best part was that it was an instructor that launched that one to show us how it was done.
I really love you guys. I used to watch other gun channels and kinda enjoyed them, but every single video Ian puts up I thoroughly enjoy and now I'm spoiled and can't watch other channels with similar content...maybe hickok45 every once in a blue moon, but I'm actually supporting their patreon because Ian's knowledge and expertise is worth it. Anyone that can make a video on a weapon that I'm not even particularly interested in riveting is deserving of support.
Love you guys.... I follow both ForgottenWeapons and InRAngeTV at an everyday bases.... if there isn't a new upload. Okay, lets re-watch some of the good old ones to memorize.... keep up the good work.
I always love these videos where these guys are just having fun, especially that intro. And there's not much more fun to be had than firing explosives.
The mounting piece has to be screwed into the stock, that's the only modification. All X shaped plugs *should* have the valve, but you should check to be sure.
There is a tool that is used to mark the correct position for the mounting of the rifle grenade launchers site base. The base is held on with 2 wood screws. Not something that you would want to use the old "trial & error" eyeball method if possible.
It's crazy how good this channel is.... guys can you go into corrosive and non corrosive ammo and different mixes.... how old ammo from Lithuania and Bulgaria etc really stands up over time... etc....ammo
I love that little end piece it's like two guys just getting to be kids playing with G.I.Joes again and having a battle but this time with real guns haha way better ....
Really glad to see this video! I tried several years ago the get Lee Emory and 'Mail Call' to cover this but they wouldn't. Always wondered how the apparatus worked. Excellent video. Thanks.
I'd say he still is, in a way. What was George Carlin is now dead. But the IDEA of George Carlin is still alive an well. Question everything. Call people out on their bullshit. Be awesome.
@MustBeNoodly: That's like... 0.5% of his total repertoire of comedy. (And those bits were mainly in 2 out of 15 HBO specials) But also, keep in mind he wanted to make people think too, it wasn't all laughs all of the time.
My M1 (CMP arsenal rebuild) has a Philips type end for unscrewing the gas plug, and so does every M1 I have seen. None have a single slot. Though I will admit that the GI issue multi-tool is of the Philips type (actually not Philips because the nose is not tapered). What did I miss in your explanation. Really like your show very straight forward with no Hollywood BS
10:00 Major Thug Larson got so good with the grenade launcher he thought he could win the war on his own. "Imma goan win this wrrr, gimmi a nade...wait gimmi 2"
amazing videos, you always keep them unbiased and only factual. I would love to see you go through a history/evolution of primary rifles of the army. just to go through the thought process.
Dude this was awesome! I put band of brothers on while I was cooking and I was thinking how the hell did those rifle grenades work? You guys explained it perfectly!
10:01 , that my friends is a picture of a MAN .... filter less camel dangling from the lip.. the "what the fuck you looking at " expression and a goddam 60mm mortar round on the end if his rifle instead of the issue grenade cause why the fuck not .
Back in the 60's we played lawn darts on the parade ground with big blue dummy grenades. We used blanks for lawn darts to keep the range down, but trained with grenade launcher rounds and a variety of grenades, dummy and real.
Nice piece of history, I did not know the use of this type of launchers on the Garand. I had to use the ENERGA bomb during my period of conscription in Italy, using the FALs derived from the Garand himself: it was mainly intended for anti-tank use, but I only had experience with the training type, which contained colored powder. However it gave a nice kick back and it was fun to compare the results of the shot. Stay safe and enjoy!
Good stuff guys! Ive always wondered how these launchers worked and for a while thought id be asking about the pin and spoon but didnt need to. Thanks!
I enjoy your very informative videos and have always wanted some information on rifle grenades having never seen any demonstration before, so thank you for this.
8:30 Yeah the bazooka was much less effective than people take it to be, its one of the reasons I defend the PIAT from basically everyone. A lot of people hate the PIAT even though it was a brilliant weapon (Taking into account the British economy, which people never do...)
Thank you for this. I have loved the M1 Garand and M 14 for years. And recently acquired. Nice M1 Garand at a local gunshow for a price I couldn't say no to. I found your videos while looking for M1 Garand videos on the UA-cam. I subscribed and plan to be a supporter soon. Than k you again.
Yes they did. The gas cylinder plug works like a Schrader valve. It is spring-loaded, & normally seals the gas cylinder assembly when the rifle is being fired. The rifle grenade launchers have a stud as part of their method of securing the launcher to the rifle. On the original M7 launcher, once mounted to the rifle, this stud depresses the gas cylinder plug, thereby allowing the gas from the cartridge to vent directly into the atmosphere instead of continuing down to push against the operating rod. On the final version, this stud was made just a hair shorter than on the original, which allowed normal semi-automatic fire, as long as no grenade was positioned on the launcher. When a rifle grenade was fired off, the recoil would push the launcher stud rearward into the gas cylinder plug. This, in turn, would momentarily open the valve & vent off the gases instead of them pushing against the operating rod, then it would allow the valve to go back to the closed position. I believe the final launcher model was either the M7A2 or M7A3.
Question for you guys! I have an m7 launcher I've shot maybe a dozen times and have always used reenactor blanks I bought online as grenade launching cartridges are hard to find, but I'm seeing now alot on forums people saying the pressure curve is too high and normal blanks should never be used? Has anyone ever had a catastrophic experience with this? All the reenactirs I've seen use normal blanks, I've done it with no problems to the rifle, Ian is doing it in this video. What's yalls opinions
Meanwhile in World at War: "I'll just put a grenade launcher attachment on this gun. I can fire it like a normal Garand, and I don't even need to switch ammo type to use it!" Meanwhile IRL: "OH GOD I THINK MY GUN EXPLODED IN MY FACE!!!"
Yeah, it was the same in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (this certainly was my favorite weapon in that game). I always wondered: “am I really propelling these grenades with a live round? This cannot work!” This video indeed proved me right.
first off love you guys, but watching you SAFELY play with your toys is very entertaining... its true that the only difference between the men and the boys is the price of their toys...great stuff keep it up
"... the US went into WW2 without any sort of grenade launcher..."
* exits the war with atomic bombs.
Aaron Seet yep USA 101. Unless the war is a matter of days you will loose
Idk why this doesn’t have more likes
Well, that escalated quickly.
:-D
Did the other countries have grenade launchers? The only other ones I can find are the Japanese ones.
Nuclear launch detected.
My dad was issued a grenade launcher for his M1 Carbine during WWII. He was in the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Late in the war, his gun crew surprised a German infantryman who made a hasty retreat. In the heat of the moment, my father fired on him with a rifle grenade. The grenade landed between the German's feet as he was running away. Luckily for him, my father had neglected to pull the pin! My dad was always glad it happened that way.
Maybe he did it on purpose? Still if those were his thoughts I gotta say your old man has a good heart. The way that story started I would have expected the worst, I wonder if the same soldier might still be around.
nobletea 3400: In the ground, busy being dead. It happens to people who were born in 1910-1920.
nobletea 3400
Legend has it
He is still running away
Damian Grouse
Schnell hans snell
+half breed 070 Legend says if you go around that area at night you can still see the ghost of Hans running in terror.
Possibly the only grenade launcher video on UA-cam that actually covers interesting topics and doesn't descend into mindless whooping and wanton destruction. Kudos.
You said wanton
I wonder how many videos on youtube are based around destroying wantons...
Waiter, there's a grenade in my wanton soup.
A Wanton is a terrible thing to waste
What about all of Ian's other vids on grenade launchers?
Prior to the Normandy Invasion of WWII, General Eisenhower wanted to see a demonstration of the M1 Garand Rifle Grenade . My Father was a Master Sargent in the 29th Infantry and was ordered to do the demonstration. His 15 minutes of fame. Thank you both for your demo. You guys do a great job!
So.... A Garanade.
When life gives you garands, make garanade
We were given garands, but weren't allowed to make garanade! :-(
Out.
*_[BAZINGA]_*
This comment section... .-.
Imagine being a German tank commander, and your tank is knocked out by a random guy with a little M1 AT.
I'd be pissed yet proud
Especially if it was a Tiger II
Can happen
Modern tanks can still be knocked out by ww1 AT weaponry or even a well placed mortar, including a simple Molotov cocktail, if you can disable a vehicle, you can fight a war.
@@battlebae12 remind me I read in the war in the middle east where a Abraham tank was disable when the engine caught on fire because some random bullet bounced between the tank chic and somehow hit the right spot on the engine.
"Dude! That's behind the firewall! Launch a grenade into the other subnet!"
When a Recon-ng patrol encounters the enemy. I literally lol'd.
I'll have to see if Cisco added rifle grenades to their latest CCNA Security exam!
Steven They have land mines in the DMZ
+ Devin, And Honeypots.
How tron should have ended.
Y'all all beat me to it. Cracked my ass up.
First - rifle grenade vs bazooka; don't forget that the 2.36 rocket projectile warhead was originallt designed as an improved rifle grenade. The rocket motor was added and a launcher developed. One can see an advantage of having both available. Second; when doing WW2 reenactments back in the 70's we borrowed some M1s from our local American Legion (used at funerals, etc). The Legion guy said they were having trouble with the blank cartridges sticking in the chamber (the DoD had drilled and welded the gas cylinders so they were single shot only). We discovered that the DoD had supplied with about hundreds of "grenade crimps" to be used as ceremonial blanks.
it's probably worth considering that GIs preferred these because soldiers like anything that's easier to carry, considering a minimal amount of them would actually be trying to take out a tank with them
G.I.'s came to appreciate the rifle grenade in, of all places, the urban environment. Driving through France and Germany, streets and alleys made for natural kill zones; snipers, hard cover, elevation superiority, time to prepare, the Germans had all the advantages. The rifle grenade allowed G.I.'s to clear rooms, basements, and provide indirect fire at the squad level.
Yep. And you didn't have to get quiet as up close and personal as you did with a hand grenade. The French also made extensive use of rifle grenades, usually three grenadiers per squad. Mighty handy to have.
Thank you greatly! My dad was the grenadier, walking point, when a German machine gun ambushed his squad. Dad said he almost fired the first grenade with a standard bullet in the chamber! He used all his grenades. Then it got silent. He was alone and out of ammunition. His German captors were especially anger at him when they found he was the grenadier. His POW experience affected our family for generations.
Thx again for the detailed look at the grenade system.
Do you remember how many these special grenades your father carried? Always wonder how many of them were issued to one grenadier.
@@MrMultiWilk Sry. No idea.
The saying is, "Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades."
And nukes, definitely nukes.
Old Dog - i was gonna say, and low yield nuclear devices. Or high yield ones, for that matter........those were the corollaries i added in my high school days. They called me the Master of Overkill. Don't know why.......
I can't imagine... :)
And flamethrowers...
Oh yeah nukes for sure
I suppose an advantage of a slip on grenade is that, as shown with the mortar shell, you could strap just about anything to the projectile itself and be off to the races. I'd love to stick a comically large suction cup to the end of one.
Five a giant dildo with a suction back on there backwards, shoot it at walls or enemy foreheads
@@theonlynontrollhere Imagine sitting there on a lovely 1944 day, in a lul in the fighting you're enjoying a sandwich and all of a sudden you hear a shot in the distance. you quickly decide it wasn't meant for you and take another bite. suddenly a 40 cm neon pink dildo appears out of seemingly nowhere and slams into your head.
1:17 the way the rifle subtly bends/wobbles like the wing of a plane in that slow motion footage is just so satisfying to me, I could watch it a thousand times
Oh man, I laughed so hard at the "fire into the other subnet" joke. Love the humor you guys have!
Massive cool factor, I love rifle grenades. Thanks for the video. I would like to mention grenadiers were trained to adjust the length of their sling and mark it in two places. With one foot on the sling, the stock planted, and the sling pulled tight, the marks would give you 30 or 45 degrees depending which mark you put the edge of your foot on. This is why the firing tables have columns for 30 and 45 degrees.
0:19 I thought they were talking about Covid19... but then I Saw the video was posted back in 2016. And that's when nostalgia hit. Those were good times.
I'm from The Netherlands. In early 1975 I fired a couple of anti-tank grenades with a Garand M1 on an old Sherman tank on ISK (Infantry shooting range) Harskamp. I was a conscripted infantry sergeant. I got the instruction of 2 senior sergeant-majors, KNIL (Royal Dutch Indies Army) war veterans that used this grenade launcher in battle. We had a different site on the grenade tap. It was a kind of thin metal ladder with distances. We were instructed to stretch the gun belt to full length, then put your left arm in the loop, let the gun-belt run over your body and behind the elbow of your right arm. Do NOT take the pistol grip of the weapon. Just make a fist of your right hand and point to the trigger with your index finger in the direction of your body. This way you are able to fire the anti-tank grenade standing or kneeling without breaking your thumb or your collar bone. With the second shot I was able to place the grenade just in the little gap between the turret and the body of the tank at 100 m. A young lieutenant sent both sergeant-majors for lunch and wanted to try a shot. Well he hadn't payed enough attention and took the pistol grip with his thumb behind the sight. Long story short.. he broke his thumb and had to go to hospital. So seeing you firing a grenade from the shoulder.. I would not do that!
Some pictures of the event.
ua-cam.com/video/aJXUGyA4_4c/v-deo.html
Sounds like the STGW57 grenades weighing up to 1Kg.
During the Namibian border war I fired a 103 mm shock type rifle grenade but.... upon firing the tail broke off and it impacted the ground about 3 meters from us. It exploded and I along with my mate got shrapnel in us. Needless to say I never trusted nor used it again.
Wow
@@Fred_the_1996 you have proof it's bullshit, anon? Because it looks pretty fucking credible to me. So why don't you quit your bullshit and show some damned respect.
My great grandfather was in basic training when he watched one guy mess up and put a live round in his M1 Grand while firing a Rifle Granade. He told me it wasn't a pretty sight. Luckily he didn't get hit by shrapnel but the guy firing wasn't lucky. That was the only death they had on that base.
@@chaseviking5096 I don't believe that story for a second. Explosives are expensive, so live grenades aren't often used in training. Not only that, but a lot of mistakes have to be made to mix in a live round with blanks.
@@reckyourself6948 believe what you want kid. I don't dough him for one second.
During BCT in early 1957 we were trained to fire the rifle grenades with the M1.Something that we were taught that is not often mentioned in these vids is the fact that a lot of burning powder can be ejected when the grenade is fired.We were given old gas masks with the filter removed to protect our faces and eyes.But I never see that in these modern vids.Also we were taught to use the later sight and to shoot for max range even though the grenades were inert.Also some poster mentioned the 40 MM grenade launcher used in Vietnam.Once saw a demo.of rapid fire with a single shot gun.Firing at max range the shooter was able to get the third round in the air before the first one hit the ground.We were using training grenades when they hit they burst marking the hit with colored powder.Fun times to watch the grenades fly through the air.The old m79 only kicked about like a 12 gauge shotgun.
launch a grenade into the under subnet! that had me in stitches
they lost me at "Dude!" 😆
yea if i recall, he was firing the triple barrel chiappa threat during a halloween shotgun event. I also remember someone calling the gun the holy trinity
Do you think during certain war times they had an en block clip filled with launcher blanks so an individual soldier could fire eight grenades consecutively ?
I'd like to know too.
john m I don't think it's a problem to reload a blank everytime you fire a grenade.
Nah the grenade launcher attachment makes it so there's not enough gas going back to work the action and load the next round
Zedbrains I think that if I had 8 grenades I'd have to fire consecutively I'd go for any improvement in time
Good luck carrying 8 rifle grenades around without getting blown up though
Guys, this is an incredibly informative video. Thank you so much. Love how thorough you are, and I love your appreciation of historical technology.
Adding some orange or blue tape to the grenade might be a good idea so that you can find it easier.
“There’s no more viruses” these guys were were fighting the good fight before any of us
I used to use one of these when playing Day of Defeat. Knowing the layout of the levels, I was able to bank them into interior rooms from the outside of a building where an enemy thought they were completely safe. Fun stuff.
I can only imagine how effective it would be to clear out a trench with an airburst 10 feet overhead of your enemy.
Well...yes. But remember the normal grenade - even when mounted as a rifle grenade..was not terribly powerful. Hollywood makes them look like anything from a small firecracker to a 105 HE shell (depending on who is meant to win..and who is meant to die) but the weight restriction on ANYTHING meant to be hand thrown meant that any useable hand grenade was not going to be some super weapon. Many US Infantrymen in WW2 reportedly described the German stick grenade as "the noisemaker" As an "offensive grenade" it was particularly light.
I mean it's like a 2m radius at most really.
"the real, the goody ammunition." oh gun Jesus, you kill me.
Just watching this again and had an interesting thought. You guys ever thought of including the grenade launchers in a one off fun "Two Gun Match"? Be interesting to take into account "Blast Radius" (a circle on the ground it has to land in or an aperture it has to go through) to take out targets as part of the match.
Very very cool guys I like to think I am a gun junkie working 4 years in gun sales and a WWII junkie but this one was new to me. It’s so cool learning new things instead of just the same ol history lesson told 1 billion times. Keep it up!
THANKS for the Rumsfeld quote!!!!!!!! I still wonder what happened to the grunt who asked the question about the lack of armor that elicited Rummy's reply... I'd like to think he wasn't waterboarded in a black-site forever.
AND: watching the rifle barrel whipping around at 1:27 was kind of freaky.
Probably the most informative videos Ive watched of you guys so far, some great wee facts in there I hadnt heard of before. Ive barely seen many photos from WW2 with them in use, or how grenadiers would carry them for that matter. Great stuff!
the amount of flexibility in rifle barrels is amazing.
is there slow motion footage of BIG guns showing barrel flex?
Large naval guns...particularly earlier on...did not just flex...but they DROOPED.! Ballistic calculations took it into account...
I read somewhere that many units prefered to bring around a M1903 for grenade use, since then they would not have to choose between lower firepower or slow response time for shooting grenades.
I believe this is why you can find many images of squads with M1's and a single M1903, and not the "designated marksman" many think.
i wonder if you could fit a tennis ball filled with pop-its in the launcher
Well, they do make barrel attachments for launching golf balls. Probably one for tennis or baseballs too.
@@zendell37 The Can Cannon takes beer cans, tennis balls, a purpose-built grappling hook, and anything that size.
@@zendell37 The Can Cannon takes beer cans, tennis balls, a purpose-built grappling hook, and anything that size.
Tennis balls fit in SMLE cup launchers quite nicely
Glad you guys made this, like you said it's rare, could not find anyone else talking about these this much at all. If possible would love a follow up on the "fire through" types......
And if the regular grenade cartridge didn't get it far enough, there were booster cartridges to go in the base of the grenade assembly. According to the range tables, with the booster it added another 50 to 80 yards to the range. Max range with booster was 330 yards with the AT grenades. Or more than 3 football fields
Fun fact, the blue ones were actually designed for training. Around Vietnam we changed or color code system we used for ordnance to be able to quickly ID what type it is. Yellow bands for HE, Seafoam Green for WP, and blue for training, along with a myriad of others. The late production MKII pineapples that had a live filler were commonly painted solid yellow for the HE Filler.
In the Pacific the Marines just grabbed the Japanese Knee mortars My Dad really liked that weapon.
Long as it's fired from anything except your body....
0:17 is very relevant right now... I had no Idea thats all we needed...
From my experience with an M79 and 203, once you've fired them for a while it gets to be like throwing a baseball and you can almost do without the sights for getting a few rounds within say 10 or 20 meters of a point. I don't doubt that the same thing happened with guys who got good with the M1.
Awesome as always! Thanks for the history! The mud tests and matches are always great, but it's the videos like this that dive into firearms history that keep me a subscriber! Hope we are getting some new vignettes soon too!
Ive actually found an entire clip of that ammo in the woods in germany
wood1155 ive found quite a few things now , 20mm spitfire casings lots of .50 ammo hand grenades artillery shells ( which i left there of course :D) and a german SS bayonet and part of a motorcycle just in some woods with a metal detector
Aquatictoaster possible but unlikely
+Aquatictoaster If you think about it, pretty much everywhere you go in the world (with the exception of the North/South pole) someone has probably died there at some point in history. A bit morbid, but also fascinating.
i found it a year ago, its almost like brand new actually, the blade is still sharp and the scabbard almost didnt lose any paint, just the handle which i think is made of nickel is a little meh
That is awesome. I've personally found tons of random crap at old mines, everything from rails to electrical components to signs, 1930s license plates, and what I believe was the primary hoist control lever for the Federal Lead Co.'s No. 5 shaft. Unfortunately, the lever was a bit too bulky to take with us, or it would have gotten an oil bath and be on display with all the other stuff I've found.
I believe there was a rifle grenade which had a “bullet catcher” on it, so the energy of the bullet is transferred to the the base of the grenade & propels it forward.
the rifle mortar idea is actually pretty smart
This is a great video, guys. I've always wondered how it worked.
Also, it's cool to see the rifle wobble in slo mo at 1:19. Never saw that before. Thanks!
You gonna run any matches with these?
Hope you do
Statusinator "Alright, to deal with the spinner target, we're going to switch to the rifle grenades"
...moving on to the Texas Star Target, we're gonna just remove that fucker from existence. *Thump!*
Intro is their best so far! They get a thumbs up just for that.
I think I enjoyed this video more then I thought
dope
My 1954 IHC Garand has the correct IHC marked gas plug with the plunger valve. And now I know why that valve is there, thanks men!
"You go to war with the army that you demobilized from the last war" perfect
Fall of 1965 at Hamilton AFB, Ca. On my way to 'Nam and we had M-16 training before going over (the M1 Carbine was the USAF's weapon of choice at the time). Grenade launching was part of the training. We screwed new fuzes into bodies that had a hole in the bottom. A small bag of powder and a cork finished it off. You got a nice BANG and nobody died if something untoward happened. SIGNIFICANT recoil - shoulder firing was strongly discouraged. The slings were marked to control the firing angle.
I do remember one that went BANG as soon as the spoon flew off - nothing's perfect. Glad that it wasn't live. The best part was that it was an instructor that launched that one to show us how it was done.
okay now I need that for the coolest game of yard darts ever!
Thank you guys so much. I reenact ww2 and my unit wanted me to be a grenadier and I had no idea what I was doing until now! This is super helpful
great as always
I really love you guys. I used to watch other gun channels and kinda enjoyed them, but every single video Ian puts up I thoroughly enjoy and now I'm spoiled and can't watch other channels with similar content...maybe hickok45 every once in a blue moon, but I'm actually supporting their patreon because Ian's knowledge and expertise is worth it. Anyone that can make a video on a weapon that I'm not even particularly interested in riveting is deserving of support.
Thank you! ~K
That was most cool! Thanks!
Can't wait for the review of the Soviet equivalent Molotov cocktail launcher.
The beginning was hilarious! I love how you've demonstrated how quick and convenient it is to ready your M1 to fire a grenade! xD
The range adjustment system reminds me of the Japanese "knee mortar"
This is up there in one of the most NEEDED InRangeTV videos.
Someone needs to make a can launcher for the M1.
Outstanding! You’re getting better all the time! Great chemistry and teamwork.
"There's no more viruses!"
K.
InrangeTV High Explosive Vaccine
Love you guys.... I follow both ForgottenWeapons and InRAngeTV at an everyday bases.... if there isn't a new upload. Okay, lets re-watch some of the good old ones to memorize.... keep up the good work.
A AK4 (H&K G3) has rifle granates, two Quick tips, do NOT fire it from the shoulder. and do NOT put the shoulder stock to the ground.
Stand on your knees, have the stock at the side of yout thigh. Hold it with a firmgrip with your left hand. push the trigger with your right thumb.
You hold it over your head.
*****
It´s one of those things that is easyer to do, then explaine. as i dont know if their is a video on it.
Here's one!
/watch?v=p6Dve1xfz_g
Feroce, About the same way you fire a riot shotgun. Hold tight and let your arms swing with the recoil.
I always love these videos where these guys are just having fun, especially that intro. And there's not much more fun to be had than firing explosives.
Does the rifle need to be modified to mount the launcher sight? Do all X shaped gas plugs have the launching valve?
The mounting piece has to be screwed into the stock, that's the only modification. All X shaped plugs *should* have the valve, but you should check to be sure.
There is a tool that is used to mark the correct position for the mounting of the rifle grenade launchers site base. The base is held on with 2 wood screws. Not something that you would want to use the old "trial & error" eyeball method if possible.
It's crazy how good this channel is.... guys can you go into corrosive and non corrosive ammo and different mixes.... how old ammo from Lithuania and Bulgaria etc really stands up over time... etc....ammo
I love that little end piece it's like two guys just getting to be kids playing with G.I.Joes again and having a battle but this time with real guns haha way better ....
Really glad to see this video! I tried several years ago the get Lee Emory and 'Mail Call' to cover this but they wouldn't. Always wondered how the apparatus worked. Excellent video. Thanks.
Miss that guy.
George Carlin is pretty cool. Surprised hearing Karl making a reference about him
Was. He was the king of comedy.
MustBeNoodly that was only a little part of his material. It is not enough to watch 2 laps of a race to tell people who will win.
I'd say he still is, in a way. What was George Carlin is now dead. But the IDEA of George Carlin is still alive an well. Question everything. Call people out on their bullshit. Be awesome.
@MustBeNoodly: That's like... 0.5% of his total repertoire of comedy. (And those bits were mainly in 2 out of 15 HBO specials) But also, keep in mind he wanted to make people think too, it wasn't all laughs all of the time.
George Carlin's 'comedy' was just like sitting through an episode of family guy. Hamfisted liberal whining and not really much else.
Look at that barrel whip at about 1:25.
Very interesting video; thank you!
"Rifle grenade! Schmidts! MG-42, ten o'clock! Nail 'im! FIIREE.
My M1 (CMP arsenal rebuild) has a Philips type end for unscrewing the gas plug, and so does every M1 I have seen. None have a single slot. Though I will admit that the GI issue multi-tool is of the Philips type (actually not Philips because the nose is not tapered). What did I miss in your explanation.
Really like your show very straight forward with no Hollywood BS
thank you for saving my internets
10:00 Major Thug Larson got so good with the grenade launcher he thought he could win the war on his own.
"Imma goan win this wrrr, gimmi a nade...wait gimmi 2"
It sounded more like you broke the window of the old lady next door. You naughty boys.
amazing videos, you always keep them unbiased and only factual. I would love to see you go through a history/evolution of primary rifles of the army. just to go through the thought process.
Can the bayonet fit while the fitting is on?
No.
+InRangeTV literally realized this when watching the video again, thanks for the reply👍🏻
Maybe fit it *into* the grenade launcher. Soldier is making a banzai charge with a sword - shoot a bayonet into him. (yes, joking)
Dude this was awesome! I put band of brothers on while I was cooking and I was thinking how the hell did those rifle grenades work? You guys explained it perfectly!
10:01 , that my friends is a picture of a MAN .... filter less camel dangling from the lip.. the "what the fuck you looking at " expression and a goddam 60mm mortar round on the end if his rifle instead of the issue grenade cause why the fuck not .
images.gr-assets.com/books/1402924890l/20890517.jpg
Soy? WTF is soy?
Back in the 60's we played lawn darts on the parade ground with big blue dummy grenades. We used blanks for lawn darts to keep the range down, but trained with grenade launcher rounds and a variety of grenades, dummy and real.
Cool!
Tough Mudder. How many miles did you run?
A bit over 12. ~Ian
InRangeTV nice
Nice piece of history, I did not know the use of this type of launchers on the Garand.
I had to use the ENERGA bomb during my period of conscription in Italy, using the FALs derived from the Garand himself: it was mainly intended for anti-tank use, but I only had experience with the training type, which contained colored powder.
However it gave a nice kick back and it was fun to compare the results of the shot.
Stay safe and enjoy!
"We do not have live grenades." Damn.
1:20 It's crazy how firing the grenade makes every piece of the rifle bend and shake so much.
I have a FAL (training) grenade at home.
Sadly i don't have the launcher nor a FAL :(
kenijaru :(
Sounds to me like you need to go shopping.
Good stuff guys! Ive always wondered how these launchers worked and for a while thought id be asking about the pin and spoon but didnt need to. Thanks!
@1:18 That's a lot of flex. It almost looks like a noodle, which probably isn't a good thing.
High speed footage of almost ANY long gun will show similar flex.... its not unusual, nor is it a problem.
I enjoy your very informative videos and have always wanted some information on rifle grenades having never seen any demonstration before, so thank you for this.
8:30 Yeah the bazooka was much less effective than people take it to be, its one of the reasons I defend the PIAT from basically everyone. A lot of people hate the PIAT even though it was a brilliant weapon (Taking into account the British economy, which people never do...)
Top Hat P'shaw yew Brits 'n' yer l'gistics! Why don't y'all jest git more iron from th' Rust Belt? It's only 4000 miles o' U-boats. What'sa big deal?
I have wondered about this for years. Thank you for clarifying.
This guy figured out how to kill COVID 4 years ago
Glad you said this
They illuminati
he wasn't talking about biological viruses moron.
Thank you for this. I have loved the M1 Garand and M 14 for years. And recently acquired. Nice M1 Garand at a local gunshow for a price I couldn't say no to. I found your videos while looking for M1 Garand videos on the UA-cam. I subscribed and plan to be a supporter soon. Than k you again.
Did they ever solve the problem that the launcher would turn the rifle into a single shot? I think Ian was explaining it, but he got interrupted.
Yes they did. The gas cylinder plug works like a Schrader valve. It is spring-loaded, & normally seals the gas cylinder assembly when the rifle is being fired. The rifle grenade launchers have a stud as part of their method of securing the launcher to the rifle. On the original M7 launcher, once mounted to the rifle, this stud depresses the gas cylinder plug, thereby allowing the gas from the cartridge to vent directly into the atmosphere instead of continuing down to push against the operating rod. On the final version, this stud was made just a hair shorter than on the original, which allowed normal semi-automatic fire, as long as no grenade was positioned on the launcher. When a rifle grenade was fired off, the recoil would push the launcher stud rearward into the gas cylinder plug. This, in turn, would momentarily open the valve & vent off the gases instead of them pushing against the operating rod, then it would allow the valve to go back to the closed position. I believe the final launcher model was either the M7A2 or M7A3.
Urbicide That’s pretty clever actually.
Wow, look at that rifle flex at 1:15!
i recently saw a video of a russian soldier shooting a 82mm mortar off of a rpg!!!
Question for you guys!
I have an m7 launcher I've shot maybe a dozen times and have always used reenactor blanks I bought online as grenade launching cartridges are hard to find, but I'm seeing now alot on forums people saying the pressure curve is too high and normal blanks should never be used? Has anyone ever had a catastrophic experience with this? All the reenactirs I've seen use normal blanks, I've done it with no problems to the rifle, Ian is doing it in this video. What's yalls opinions
Meanwhile in World at War: "I'll just put a grenade launcher attachment on this gun. I can fire it like a normal Garand, and I don't even need to switch ammo type to use it!" Meanwhile IRL: "OH GOD I THINK MY GUN EXPLODED IN MY FACE!!!"
SirMan McDude - except u would be saying it to St Pete at the Pearly Gates. Then he would say "Here's your sign". Lol
SirMan McDude and you, and your buddies, and their rifles too for that matter
Yeah, it was the same in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (this certainly was my favorite weapon in that game). I always wondered: “am I really propelling these grenades with a live round? This cannot work!” This video indeed proved me right.
first off love you guys, but watching you SAFELY play with your toys is very entertaining...
its true that the only difference between the men and the boys is the price of their toys...great stuff keep it up