#M203

The US Army is seeking to increase the lethality offered by its 40mm grenade launchers. For decades the M203 has been the US Army’s go-to under barrel grenade launcher, only recently has the M320 from Heckler & Koch surpassed it. Now the U.S. Army’s Army Contracting Command have launched a search for a new Precision Grenadier System or PGS.

This week it was announced that LMT Defense had gained a contract from the United States Army for $17,031,520 firm fixed price for a new production run of the M203/M203A2 40MM Grenade launcher. The order is estimated to be complete by September of 2025. The full press release from LMT Defense can be found below.

Howard over at Loose Rounds often posts some interesting things and this post, in particular, caught my eye as something worth looking deeper into. It seems that Howard is in the process of trying to make DIY 40mm practice rounds for his launcher. Howard owns an M203 40mm grenade launcher, however, genuine practice rounds are no longer easy to come by ever since the ATF deemed them as Destructive Devices back in 2015.

Engineers at the US Army’s Army Research Lab (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground have filed a patent application for the Grenade Launched Unmanned Aerial System (GLUAS), a 40mm grenade launcher delivered drone, complete with camera. The GLUAS can be fired from an issue M320 or M203 launcher without modification.

Photo Of The Day – The shotgun is probably the most violent firearm of them all. But depending on the ammunition it can also be non-lethal, which is the theme in these pictures. Above we see a U.S. Marine as he fires a Mossberg 590A1 12-gauge shotgun during a non-lethal weapons training exercise, in January 2020.

Sunshine and rain combined in today’s Photo Of The Day from Japan, where we get an excellent side-view of an M4 Carbine with an ACOG sight and grenade launcher.

Purple Haze from The Jimi Hendrix Experience (link opens in a separate window so you can listen as you read) is a fitting description to the picture above.

A US company called MATBOCK has released a new 40mm grenade launcher sight which automatically estimates the range of the grenade impact depending on the angle of the weapon system. The new sight is called ARD (Aquire Read Deploy).

Colt have produced a limited run of Civilian-legal M203 grenade launchers. The iconic under-barrel grenade launcher will be offered through Arms Unlimited – one of Colt Defense’s law enforcement distributors. While this isn’t the first 37mm M203 to hit the market it is the first from the original manufacturer.

An entrepreneur in Seattle has developed a bayonet mounting attachment that is specifically designed for AR15s with standard front sight gas blocks. Currently, the U.S. Infantryman of today doesn’t have an option for mounting a bayonet on an M16A4/M4 that has been equipped with a 40x46mm low-velocity M203 under barrel grenade launcher ( Unless he goes picatinny with Geissele). When coupled with an M4 carbine, the M203 clamps to the 6-inch barrel past the front sight post, completely preventing an issue M9 bayonet to be mounted to the carbine. A standard M203 on an M16A2 or M16A4 just barely aligns with the bayonet stud, apart of the front sight post, therefore also preventing the fitting of an M9 bayonet. However, shorter barrel M203s that haven’t been widely adopted such as LMT’s 9 inch barrel variant, or the currently issued H&K M320s would allow issue bayonets to be mounted, but it would negate the grenade launcher entirely.

Josh Brolin is portraying the Marvel character Cable in Deadpool 2. Recently photos were posted of Brolin in costume and he is seen carrying a KRISS Vector. However it looks like a KRISS Vector after a mall ninja had his way with it.

At the 2017 National Defense Industry Association small arms conference in April, the US Army revealed its efforts to produce new improved varieties of 40mm low velocity ammunition for the M203 and M320 grenade launchers. Product Director for Medium Caliber Ammunition Christopher Seacord’s presentation at NDIA lists three new types of 40mm ammunition: XM1166 High Explosive Air Burst (HEAB), XM1167 Door Breach (DB), and XM1168 Short Range Anti-Personnel (SRAP):

Recent news coverage has made it explicitly clear that the U.S. Marine Corps is finally going to upgrade legacy 40x46mm low-velocity M203 under-barrel grenade launchers to the much more mobile and versatile Heckler & Koch M320s that the U.S. Army has successfully been using for a number of years to date. Current numbers indicate that 7,000 are wanted by at least 2019, and at the latest in the year of 2022 for a force-wide issue among both the Active Component in the Fleet Marine Force and in the Reserves as well. Currently an article on Marines.mil is showcasing elements from 2nd Combat Engineering Battalion at Camp Lejeune working with M320s as a test case.

The US Army RDECOM published a YouTube video on the Picatinny Arsenal YouTube Page about Additive Manufacturing, which includes 3D printing, and the Rapid Additively Manufactured Ballistics Ordnance or RAMBO Launcher. RAMBO, in this case, is fundamentally a 3D printed version of the M203A1 40mm grenade launcher as well as 3D printed M781 training ammunition.

In January, just before the 2017 SHOT Show, I got the opportunity to travel to Cody Wyoming to visit the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, to see some of their rare firearms and bring photos of them to our readers.