{"id":48799,"date":"2022-10-02T20:16:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T18:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=48799"},"modified":"2025-10-21T04:23:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T02:23:54","slug":"this-is-how-a-mk-19-automatic-grenade-launcher-works-a-powerful-and-long-range-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2022\/10\/02\/this-is-how-a-mk-19-automatic-grenade-launcher-works-a-powerful-and-long-range-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how a Mk-19 automatic grenade launcher works: a powerful and long-range weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most powerful automatic weapons that many Western armies have had for decades is the Mk-19 grenade launcher.<\/p>\n

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The origin of this powerful weapon dates back to 1962<\/strong>, when the United States Navy began a competition to equip its river patrol boats with weapons heavier than the 12.7 mm Browning M-2 machine guns . This is how Honeywell Corporation developed the Mk-18, a 40x46 mm caliber grenade launcher<\/strong>, with a box disproportionate to the size of its barrel and which was activated with a crank.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 1966 the development of a more advanced and fully automatic grenade launcher began, the Mk-19<\/strong>, with a mechanism box that is very reminiscent of that of the M-2 machine gun and with 40x53 mm caliber ammunition. This new grenade launcher made its baptism of fire on US Navy river patrol boats during the Vietnam War.<\/strong> The US Army did not show interest in this weapon until a few years later, adopting it in 1983.<\/p>\n

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The design of the Mk-19 has been perfected over the years<\/strong>, currently being used by at least two dozen countries and participating in different wars in the last 50 years, including the current invasion Ukrainian Russian (Ukrainian forces received Mk-19 grenade launchers from the US a few months ago<\/a>). Fed by ammunition belts with between 32 and 48 grenades, the Mk-19 has a rate of fire of between 750 and 790 rounds per minute, with an effective range of 1,500 meters<\/strong> and a maximum range of 2,200 .<\/p>\n

This week, Mscope<\/a> posted a video showing what the operation of the Mk-19<\/strong>, explaining the operation of its mechanisms through images made with a computer:<\/p>\n