Vietnam - U.S. Marines - What is a "blooker"?
- Thread starter Sly Old Fox
- Start date
Shelldrake
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Right behind you,,
Not a misprint. The jargon blooker predates blooper in use. Holywood seems to prefer blooper.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Winchester-1897
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
Also know as the Thumper.
We used the M79 in the NZ Army and also the Rhodesian Light Infantry. We still used the M203 until we started replacing the M16 with the Steyr Aug, but we still kept the M79 in use. Was very common to see our units outfitted with a mix of these weapons. Very good weapon to fill the gap between minimum mortar range, and maximum hand grenade range. Very distinctive plonk on firing, but little recoil.
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Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I got to actually shoot an M79 & an M203 once, thanks to US Special Forces dudes at CFB Petawawa in 1988.
Pretty neat, but all we got to shoot was smoke rounds. Still cool though, recoil very manageable.....
They claimed thier more experienced shooters, could lob a round through a residential house sized window at 300 meters.
Pretty neat, but all we got to shoot was smoke rounds. Still cool though, recoil very manageable.....
They claimed thier more experienced shooters, could lob a round through a residential house sized window at 300 meters.
The M79 was later replaced by the M203. The stock looks like that because it is generally fired from the armpit, rather than the shoulder. The M203 (which of courses attaches under an M16 or variant) is fired the same way at ranges greater than 100. You put the stock of the rifle in your armpit and basically elevate the rifle so the range indicator on the rear sight of the launcher lines up with the "nipple" on the front sight. Fire away and it makes a satisfying "donk!" noise. Accuracy is somewhat lucky guess and based in part on a reliable distance to the target and wind conditions. With an M203 I've bracketed targets at 300m, and I've been dead on at 100-150m. It is ineffective at ranges greater than 400m. I'm not sure about the M79, but the M203 sight is only marked up yo 400m.
I'm pretty sure the M79 operates the same way as the M203. It seems to be essentially a stand-alone 40mm grenade launcher. Fire from the shoulder at distances of <100m, and from the armpit at >100m. Yes, "thump gun" is an accurate description - when the round hits, there is a nice "thump" from the explosion.
Yes, you could probably put a round through a window at 300m with an M203. It depends on the wind, When I've fired HE at a 300m target, we had pretty horrible wind (80km'h gusts), but I still was hitting within a kill radius. Had there been no wind, I probably would have been dead on. The M79 should be no different.
I'm pretty sure the M79 operates the same way as the M203. It seems to be essentially a stand-alone 40mm grenade launcher. Fire from the shoulder at distances of <100m, and from the armpit at >100m. Yes, "thump gun" is an accurate description - when the round hits, there is a nice "thump" from the explosion.
Yes, you could probably put a round through a window at 300m with an M203. It depends on the wind, When I've fired HE at a 300m target, we had pretty horrible wind (80km'h gusts), but I still was hitting within a kill radius. Had there been no wind, I probably would have been dead on. The M79 should be no different.
It's been a LOOONG while, but, IIRC, Army expected us to use the sights and shoot from the shoulder at moderate ranges. The stock was shaped to actually allow it to go ON the shoulder and in line with the bore to reduce variability in recoil. Does anybody remember where the tape stripes were supposed to be on the sling for indirect fire? Toe of the butt on the ground, boot on the appropriate place on the sling for the range, and TONK! for a mini-mortar.
Again, IIRC, the max range of the M79 was only 430m.
Joel
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M 79......Blooper
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I have noticed in these posts that people have mentioned the TYPES of ammunition available, but not the reason for the sound it makes.
The M 79 ammunition is a fixed case cartridge, that is, the projectile is a part of the round.
The cartridge uses what is known as a high/low system. In this, the primer and a small charge of propellant is in a small container at the back of the case. When fired, the propellant is under a high pressure, and is released into the larger case. Because this inside of the case is much larger, the gases from the propellant expand, and because there is a lot of room to expand inside the case, the pressure drops. This lower pressure is more than enough to fire the projectile.
The advantage to this is that a man portable rather large bore firearm may be made, it having a relatively thin barrel compared to a field gun or artillery piece. The resulting recoil is also much lighter, allowing it to be fired from the shoulder.
There were also inserts made that held a 12 guage buckshot shell. These were the same size as the 40mm round. Some plastic inserts were experimented with.
Anyone who carried the m 79 usually carried a .45 auto pistol too.
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I have noticed in these posts that people have mentioned the TYPES of ammunition available, but not the reason for the sound it makes.
The M 79 ammunition is a fixed case cartridge, that is, the projectile is a part of the round.
The cartridge uses what is known as a high/low system. In this, the primer and a small charge of propellant is in a small container at the back of the case. When fired, the propellant is under a high pressure, and is released into the larger case. Because this inside of the case is much larger, the gases from the propellant expand, and because there is a lot of room to expand inside the case, the pressure drops. This lower pressure is more than enough to fire the projectile.
The advantage to this is that a man portable rather large bore firearm may be made, it having a relatively thin barrel compared to a field gun or artillery piece. The resulting recoil is also much lighter, allowing it to be fired from the shoulder.
There were also inserts made that held a 12 guage buckshot shell. These were the same size as the 40mm round. Some plastic inserts were experimented with.
Anyone who carried the m 79 usually carried a .45 auto pistol too.
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I CAN'T BELIEVE NO ONE HERE REMEMBERED TO MENTIOON THE M79 Used during the movie "AFLOKOFLIPS NOW" Remember that scene with the stoned black dude using the M79 at night to waste that yelling gook out on the wire... YA DUDE,,,, THAT WAS THE COOLEST SCENE... WASTED.
