Gun Wiki

M.O.S. Please read and keep the Manual of Style in mind while editing.

Also, remember that there is to be no copying and pasting from other sources, at any time - your edits must be in your OWN words!

READ MORE

Gun Wiki

The Sarmac Fauconnet is a prototype automatic grenade launcher designed by Sarmac S.A. of Geneva, Switzerland as a "straight-firing" grenade launcher, a hand-held weapon that shoots explosive ammunition, and at the same time without injuring the shooter with immense recoil. The weapon was chambered in a 24mm grenade. Although the weapon worked, it was found that underbarrel grenade launchers were lighter etc and would fulfill this role. It would however predate the concept of airburst launchers.

Overview[]

The 24-mm Sarmac Fauconnet grenade launcher had a fairly simple and logical device for combating recoil - a multi-slot muzzle brake and, most importantly, 180 millimeters of bolt recoil into a long tube with a shock absorber, which formed the butt. The weapon turned out to be relatively light, only 6.77 kg (without cartridges) and in a semi-automatic solution allowed for up to 60 rounds, feeding from a 5-round magazine.

As a result, a 130-gram, 130 mm long ammunition containing a 20-gram explosive charge flew out at a speed of about 400 m/s and could cover targets at a distance of 600-700 meters. At this distance, the grenade was ensured to hit within a 5-meter radius of fragmentation damage to a "soft target". An interesting option was the "buckshot" ammunition, which, with a weight of 70 grams and a length of 81 mm, contained 12 arrows of 5.4 mm caliber. It flew out of the barrel at a speed of as much as 600 m/s, and at a distance of 100 meters provided a zone of continuous destruction with a diameter of about one and a half meters, and the total effective range reaches 150 meters.

The arrows were launched in a batch so that a target had no chance to slip between the flying needles. This is much further than any other buckshot weapon that can be carried in hands can provide.

References[]