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By
R. Ted Jeo
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Article Published
Date: 11/21/2007
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Adobe
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WARNING!!!
Check local laws and
regulations before using this type of device
on a firearm. On that note, your range may
not even let you use one.
And, of course, these
are NOT to be used during a tennis game.
no matter how badly you want to win.
In other words,
do not fire at
people, places or things that you do not
want to kill, maim, or damage.
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Okay, now
here is something to do with all those weapons that
have the 22mm NATO standard grenade launching adapters
mounted on them. You know, the AR’s, the 59/66
SKS’s, FAL’s, CETME’s, the FR’s etc. Everyone
KNOWS what the dang things are used for, but, alas,
most of us have NO reason to use it. Until
now that is.
We were
contacted a while back by Bill Larkin who said he
had something that would be fun to play around with
on those aforementioned weapons. That something
turned out to be a tennis ball launcher. In
the past, there have been other articles that were
done on golf ball launchers and even on REAL (dud)
grenade launching items, but I figured it would
be MY turn to have some fun.
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| Some of the
common types of NATO 22mm standard launchers
include (top) FR 7/8, 59/66 SKS, and
the AR’s (A2 in this case) |
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What
I got from Bill was a nice mil surp waterproof
case that contained the launcher. He also
sent a supply of 7.62 NATO and 5.56 NATO parade
blanks. He does sell blanks in both of
these calibers as well as 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R.
Also, he recommends that only parade blanks
be used with tennis balls, as grenade blanks
would very well blow right through your tennis
balls. And, obviously, you would NEVER
use standard ball ammo.
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| Bill’s launcher
kit comes with the launcher, a length
adapter and a handy dandy carrying case
which he is offering while supplies
last. A colorful and helpful instruction
sheet is included as well. |
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| 7.62mm on
left, 5.56mm on right. Blanks can be
denoted by the crimped ends in the case.
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| Although constructed
of “household” materials, I found the
launcher to be quite sturdy and designed
to give lots of service. The interior
of the shaft is an aluminum pipe that
is fitted perfected to the 22mm adapters.
Total weight (w/o ball) about 11 oz. |
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The
entire device slides over the barrel of the
firearm. There is a bungee attached (as
Bill calls it a “Forward Kinetic Motion Inhibitor)
that locks the device onto the weapon so the
whole thing does not go flying.
I did
not try to launch anything other than a tennis
ball and I would not recommend anything else
be tried.
Launching from an
FR rifle
The
first thing I noticed when I slide the launcher
onto my FR8 rifle, was that it fit nearly perfect.
That is, the length of the launcher tube was
almost perfect so that the grenade adapter on
the rifle was just below where the bottom of
the ball would be. Not only
that, but the forward sling
mounting point is a perfect place to
attach the retaining bungee cord to.
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| The front
end of the FR 7/8 rifle. Perfect fit
for the launcher. |
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| The bungee
attached perfectly to the forward sling
point. |
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| A view right
down the launcher. You can see where
the grenade adapter sits at the bottom
of the launcher cup. A near perfect
fit. |
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| The launcher
attached to the front end of the FR7.
My only complaint would be that the
bungee on my sample is red. Black would
be, if available, a better option. |
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When
I took the rifle out to my local range, I got
some pretty good laughs. It seems
that years ago, there
were some locals who wanted to do a very similar
thing and built golf ball launchers “for the
fun of it”. For the local “old timers”
it brought back fond memories of good friends
and good times.
We loaded
up some of the blanks into the FR8 and gave
it a try. Recoil was near non-existent,
as was the report. You could hold the
rifle to your shoulder as if you were shooting
as normal, but we found that the ball would
not go nearly as far nor fly as straight.
Best results, of about 50-70 yards, were obtained
holding the rifle at a 45 degree angle.
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From Wikipedia:
Rifle Grenade
A rifle grenade is a
form of a grenade that utilizes a rifle
for launching. First developed in
WW1, there are still uses for it even today.
[oddly, US
rifles now use dedicated add on grenade
launcher (such as the M203) but M16 series
rifles still have the standard 22mm NATO
adapter attached]. Benefits of
the rifle grenade was that it was typically
larger than hand tossed designs as well
as distances that the grenade could be launched
to.
Two designs of rifle
launching systems are used, one being a
stick that fitted down into the barrel of
the rifle and the other is an adapter placed
at the end of the rifle muzzle. In
both methods, a blank cartridge is required
to produce the propellant gases. If
a standard live round were used, consequences
would be disastrous to say the least.
This led to the development of grenades
that either trapped the live round or allowed
the bullet to pass through it by means of
a hole.
Being that these devices
are very low velocity projectiles, distance
is obtained by increasing the launchers
angle, often at angles greater than 45 degrees,
which allow them to drop into trenches or
hit targets behind cover. Maximum
distances were out to 200 yards.
[I should note that the
Germans did develop a pistol fired grenade
launcher as well during WW2]
[italics]
denote added comments by author
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See the video shooting a tennis ball from an FR
8 rifle.
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| The number
of times a tennis ball can be re fired
is dependent on how they stand up to
the abuse. These two were fired repeatedly
from the FR8 with little more than some
singed areas of felt.
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| Making sure
that the ball is smashed all the way
down into the launcher will give the
best results. |
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Beware
that the blanks have a coarse “grit” that is
loaded into them. On some of the shots,
I could feel a pebbling of this grit on my hands.
As always make sure that eye protection is used,
and, of course, clean your weapon after use.
Launching from an M-4 Clone type AR rifle:
When
I slipped the launcher onto the “clone-4” rifle,
it was immediately evident that it would not
work. The barrel protruded approximately
an inch into the adapter. An extension
would be needed to make the launcher fit.
I contacted Bill and he said that he would be
adding an extension sleeve with each launcher
to take care of this problem, in the mean time;
I hit the hardware store with an AR15 birdcage
in my hand and found something that would work
for the sort term. Essentially, I found
that a PVC 1” ID union, which was about 1” long,
would do the job. The second thing I needed
was something to extend the range of the bungee.
I settled on a short piece of lightweight chain,
which I looped through the front sling holder.
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| When the adapter
was slid onto a standard carbine length
Clone-4 barrel, the barrel protruded
into the adapter. |
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| What I did
was to slide a 1” long PVC union down
the barrel first. Then I added a short
piece of chain to extend the range of
the bungee attachment.
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| The launcher
now includes a short tubing section
add on that can be used to extend the
length of the adapter tube (top). |
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If I were
to make this more permanently appealing,
I would have cut the chain shorter
and painted the union black.
For testing purposes, it worked
just fine.
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See the
video of shooting a tennis ball from a Clone 4 rifle.
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Using
the 5.56mm blanks that Bill provided, I got
the tennis balls to launch about 50-60 yards
(at a 45 degree angle). The action did
not cycle, nor would I expect it to. The
tennis balls did not fire as far as the 7.62mm
blanks pushed them, no doubt because of the
lower powered rounds being used. Again,
recoil and report was negligible. The
tennis balls being fired from the Clone 4 did
not fare nearly as well. The entire felt
area was completely ripped off where the ball
was resting against the front of the barrel
and the ball was even cut open by each shot.
When I found the balls down range, I was able
to squeeze them and gasses from firing were
still evident inside the ball.
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| Tennis balls
fired from the Clone 4 would not last
nearly as long. Each of the bald areas
is just one firing from the rifle. |
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| When first
found, if I squeezed the ball, it would
open up and gasses would escape from
inside. |
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| So, now, what would you say
is this launcher good for? Well, we got a
good laugh out of it at the range, but a lot of
the guys thought that it might be a good exerciser
for a gun dog. Not owning a gun dog nor having
access to one, I could not test out that theory.
I would not recommend you show up at the local tennis
court with one though. It’s just plain fun. |
How to get one:
Complete information about
the launcher can be found at
www.Laxin.net/Launcher
The launcher package can
be purchased directly from Bill for $20 plus
$7 shipping &
handling.
In the launcher package you
receive the 22mm grenade tube with the attached
Rubber Spherical Projectile Stabilizer Container
(the rubber cup) and the Specialized Forward
Kinetic Motion Inhibitor (commonly called a
bungee cord). Included is a 3" adaptor for longer
barrels, four starter tennis balls, an instruction
sheet, and (while supplies last) a Free military
quality-carrying bag.
Blank launching cartridges
are available in 7.62x39mm for $7.00 per 20
rounds or 7.62x51mm NATO, .223, or 7.62x54R
for $5.00 per 20 rounds. Launcher orders with
ammo also add $2 for shipping and handling no
matter what the quantity of ammo ordered.
Telephone or email orders
are welcome. Credit cards accepted.
Bill Larkin
3483 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
blarkin@qwest.net
Phone: 800-535-5128
Fax: 801-264-9880
Bill guarantees that “…launching
tennis balls will put a smile on your face." |
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Copyright 2006,
2007 Surplusrifle.com
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