| has gloss | eng: The China Lake Model (or China Lake Pump-Action Grenade Launcher) is a pump-action grenade launcher that was developed by the Special Projects Division of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which provided equipment to Navy SEALs. Navy SEALs were unsatisfied with the single-shot nature of the M79 and XM148 grenade launchers, and the repeating T148E1 grenade launcher was unreliable, so they made a request to China Lake engineers. SEAL Teams were pleased with the resultant pump-action grenade launcher, since the tubular magazine held three 40x46mm grenades, and so with one grenade in the chamber, four grenades could rapidly be fired before reloading. In fact a skilled operator could fire four aimed shots before the first one landed. The grenade launcher was extremely light for its size, since a significant portion of it was made of aluminum. The weapon actually weighs 1-1/2 pounds less empty than an empty M79. Loaded with 4 of the 8 ounce rounds, the 4 shot weapon weighs only 1/2 pound more than the single shot M79. Despite this advantage in firepower, it did have limitations as it could not reliably feed the more oddly-shaped 40 mm grenades. |
