In 1961 the first M79 Grenade Launcher was delivered to the US Army. One of the few completely new Infantry weapons to appear during the Vietnam War, the M79 had no counterpart in the enemy's arsenal. Dedicated to firing spherical 40mm grenades, the M79 was designed to accurately fill the gap between the maximum 50 meter range of a hand grenade and the minimum 300 meters of mortar fire with greater accuracy than a rifle grenade launcher. The weapon proved popular with soldiers, earning several nicknames including "Thumper" and "Blooper".

The M79 is a single-shot, break-open, shoulder-fired weapon with a rifled barrel, an open, fixed front sight and an open rear leaf sight that is adjustable for windage. The stock is wooden and the butt is fitted with a rubber recoil pad. The internal hammer is cocked and the manual safety automatically engaged when the weapon is reloaded. Though the M79 was originally designed for the M406 HE-FRAG grenade, the military developed several more grenades for the weapon including smoke and illumination rounds, HE-DP (dual purpose, fragmentation/antitank), incendiary rounds and a buckshot canister (for close-combat and self-defense).

The disadvantages of the M79 platform were twofold: first, it required the grenadier to carry an additional weapon, such as pistol or a submachine gun for defense and secondly, it had a relatively slow rate of fire. The XM148 System, a combination M79/M16A1 temporarily replaced the M79, but was prone to breaking, snagging on underbrush and was difficult to cock.

Within a few months, units using the XM148 were clamoring to have their M79 reissued. Though flawed, this "proof-of-concept" led to the design of the M203 as a replacement for the M79 in 1969. Officially retired, the M79 continues to see service with many nations as well as being used to detonate IEDs in Iraq and clear caves in Afghanistan. The M79 has also become popular with police forces for crowd control, as tear gas and rubber baton rounds are often difficult to fire from relatively cumbersome M203 launchers. Contrary to movies such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 40mm grenades must travel a minimum distance while rotating before they will detonate. This is part of their safety mechanism, preventing detonation if dropped or hit by stray fire. Thanks to (Security) Tom for inspiring this week's article.

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