Is it legal to to use an M1 rifle's grenade launcher attachment with practice rounds? My dad used to have some of the gas cartridges used to launch them, I always thought it would be fun.
I dont think they were ever actually gas cartridges. Most guns that have grenade launchers on them , just use blanks.
Really?.... I wouldn't think a blank would've had enough "umph" to launch the grenade (I've only ever fired an m203).
An M203 is a whole different animal. Its actually a large bullet with an HE projectile. Surprisingly, the M203 round doesn't have a whole lot of powder in it. Thats why you have to "lob" it at a target. Every rifle with a muzzle type grenade launcher I have seen/used always took blanks. They aren't movie style blanks, they are high powered specially designed to fire rifle grenades. But I could be wrong, there may be a gas cartridge out there for the M1 Rifle Grenade That I dont know about.
"gas" carts is just what I remember my dad calling them. I'm sure your right and they we're just powerful blanks, they we're crimped on the end, and so they looked really cool to my 5 yr old or so eyes Oh yeah, I'm familiar with the 203. Got to fire one several times while in service, and wouldn't mind having one of those now either We used those orange powder rounds. Lots of fun! I know someone out there is making legal 37mm versions of them, I don't know about the "puffball" rounds though. Ahhh, so many toys, so little money
Blackjack; There were 2 types of blanks issued for the M-1 Garand. The first was the common "Drill Blank". The tip of this has an elongated neck with a round hole filled with a red insert (similar to the M-14/M-60 blank). This is what you normally see the VFW using on Memorial Day. The second type is the "Grenade Launcher Blank". This has a neck that has a distinguishable star-crimp, kind-of like an opened plastic shotgun shell. However it is highly advised to NOT fire blanks out of an M-1 Garand. Some of the early grenade launchers for it did not shut off the exhaust flow to the gas system, and so many op-rods were destroyed. The later grenade launchers shut off the gas flow. Secondly, nearly all of those blanks are corrosive. If you fire either of them through your rifle and do not clean all portions of the barrel, receiver, bolt, & gas system with special corrosive-neutralizing cleaner, you are running the risk of turning a $900.00 work of art into a $250.00 wall-hanger. It would be a lot safer & cheaper to find a Model 1917 with a ruined bore, if you just wanted the fun of launching practice grenades. Good luck.
