In addition, it was not until January 1944 that the 7310079 "poppet" lock screw with a self-closing valve was standardised for the M1 Garand: prior to this, the user would have to fire off a round upon dismounting the M7 to close the B147851 lock screw valve via gas pressure. Since this meant the launcher had to be constantly dismounted and re-mounted, they were frequently lost: period documents indicate that 15-20% of M7 launchers in inventory were being lost per month. This was intended to prevent serious damage to the gas system from the pressure of firing a 1.2 pound rifle grenade rather than a 0.02 pound bullet (original production M1 Garands with the B147428 solid lock screw do not have a hole large enough to even mount an M7, but those with reproduction solid screws that can fit an M5-series bayonet may explode if used with an M7), and prevent the rifle ejecting spent casings into the operator or trying to eat him when cycling next to his leg.
It was developed to solve the challenge of firing rifle grenades from a gas-operated semi-automatic rifle: prior to this, the solution had been for squad grenadiers to be issued with a bolt-action rifle, either an M1903A3 Springfield equipped with an M1 Rifle Grenade Launcher or more rarely an M1917 Enfield equipped with an M2 Rifle Grenade Launcher.įitting the original M7 turned the M1 Garand into a manually-operated repeater as long as it was mounted, since the assembly included a stud that depressed the valve of the rifle's gas cylinder lock screw to vent all of the gas that would normally cycle the action. It could be attached to the M1 Garand in order to allow it to fire 22mm rifle grenades using M2 or M3 grenade blank propelling cartridges. In the modern sense it is a grenade adapter rather than a grenade launcher, as the device cannot actually launch anything by itself. The M7 Rifle Grenade Launcher (Remington T14 prior to adoption) was a muzzle device originally designed by John Garand and first adopted by the US military in 1943.
The adapter then retains the grenade's spoon with an arming clip that separates due to inertia on launch: assembled M1 rifle grenades often had a block of wood under the spoon (as here) to hold the clip securely during transport. The pin needs to be pulled from the grenade before the M1 rifle grenade adapter is fired, something often forgotten in media depictions. The WW2-era M1 adapter was similar in appearance, but had four claws instead of three, and did not have the conical stabilising cup at the base of the grenade. Mk 2 training grenade fitted with M1A2 22mm rifle grenade projection adapter.
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