The GP-25 Kostyor ("Bonfire"), GP-30 Obuvka ("Shoe") and GP-34 are a family of Russian 40 mm under-barrel muzzleloadedgrenade launchers (Granatomyot Podstvolnyj) for the AK family of assault rifles. They were first seen by the West in 1984, during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The GP-30 was lightened and the redesigned sighting system was moved to the right.
The current Izhmash-made version, the GP-34, has a further-redesigned sighting system located to the right side of the weapon and features the following advantages:
Reliability: It is designed and tested specifically for the Kalashnikov assault rifles, fits such assault rifles directly without any adaptors or forearm dismantling.[2]
Improved safety: The design prevents a round from moving within or falling out of the barrel, even if the muzzle is pointed down. The GP-34 features an additional mechanism (firing pin safety lever) to improve safety during loading.[2]
Development
Development of a grenade launcher for the AKM assault rifle began in 1966 at the Sporting and Hunting Arms Central Design and Research Bureau. Development continued into the 1970s, and in 1978 it was accepted into service.
The GP-30 first entered service in 1989, and is intended for use with the AK-100 series of assault rifles.
The GP-34 is designed to be a universal service model that can be fitted to the AKM / AKMS, AK-74 / AKs-74, AK-74M, AK-101, AK-103, and AN-94 rifles.
GP-25 grenade launcher
GP-30M grenade launcher
GP-34 grenade launcher
Description
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The grenade launchers are similar in appearance and fire the same 40 mm caliber ammunition together.
The GP-30(M) is a stripped-down model grenade launcher, consisting of a very short, 40 mm rifledbarrel in front of a basic trigger mechanism with minimal hand grip. On top of the barrel is mounting gear to attach the weapon under the barrel of an AK-series assault rifle, from where it is designed to be fired.
The barrel has a service life of about 400 rounds.
The ammunition family consist of 40 mminternal propellant caseless ammunition, cartridges containing the propellant inside the warhead instead of a cartridge case, based on the same High-Low System developed by Germany in late World War II to keep recoil forces low without a rocket or other type of recoilless weapon back blast. The rounds feature a special type of driving band which allows for muzzle loading, featuring a sub-caliber diameter when loading, which flanges outward to full-caliber and engaging the rifling inside the barrel when fired. This differs from the more traditional two piece casing-and-projectile design of the comparable American 40x46mm LV cartridge used in breech-loaded grenade launchers, such as the M203.
When firing, a round is first muzzle loaded into the barrel, the weapon is aimed, then the self-cocking trigger is pulled to fire the weapon. This fires the percussion cap at the base of the round which triggers the internal nitrocellulosepropellant. The hot expanding gas from the propellant is forced through vents at the base of the shell, propelling it through the barrel and at the same time forcing the driving band to flange outwards to engage with the twelve rifling grooves. The rifling imparts stabilizing spin to the projectile.
Grenades (shells)
Originally, the main grenade for the system was the VOG-15 (7P17) (Выстрел осколочный гранатомётный (Shot fragmentation grenade launcher)) fragmentation grenade. This was superseded by the steel-cased VOG-25 fragmentation grenade, featuring a lethal radius of six meters. A bouncing grenade, the VOG-25P, is also available. On impact, a small charge in the nose of the grenade is detonated; this raises the grenade 0.5 to 1.5 m in the air, before an impact delay fuse detonates it. The VOG-25P also has a lethal radius of six meters.
New generation rounds VOG-M and VOG-PM with an increased effectiveness not less than 1.5 times are now serially available.[3]
Smoke grenades are also available. The original GRD-40 grenade has been replaced by a series of grenades designed for use at different ranges. These are the GRD-50, GRD-100 and GRD-200 for use at 50, 100 and 200 meters respectively. They are capable of producing a 20 cubic meter cloud of smoke that lasts for one minute in winds of up to five meters per second.
A CS gas grenade called the Gvozd ("Nail") and a baton grenade are also available.
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