How a M79 works

The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War. Because of its distinctive report, it has earned the nicknames of “Thumper“, “Thump-Gun“, “Bloop Tube“, “Big Ed“, and “Blooper“ among American soldiers as well as “Can Cannon“ in reference to the grenade size; Australian units referred to it as the “Wombat G