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France's Super-Light 50mm Modele 37 Grenade Launcher
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- / forgottenweapons
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A new very light and portable mortar to replace the V-B rifle grenade was one of the facets of the French plan for rearmament and modernization after World War Two. The concept for the weapons that would become the L.Gr. Mle 37 was first requested in 1924 - but like so almost all the other parts of that arms program, it was crippled by delays through the 1920s and 1930s. Only in the late 1930s when was was looking imminent did the program finally move forward.
The design, created by Captain Nahan of the Chatellerault arsenal, was adopted in 1937 and a whopping 21,950 were ordered in January of 1938 - and the order was quickly revised up to 50,000. However, only 2900 had been produced by the time of the armistice in June 1940. Production resumed in 1944, and the launcher did see use in Indochina. In addition, its 50mm grenade was the basis for the postwar French rifle grenades, as used on the MAS-36 LG 48, the MAS-44, and MAS-49 rifles. As fired form the mortar, the projectile weighed about one pound (0.4kg) and had a range of 80 to 460 meters, with an effective rate of fire up to 20 rounds per minute.
If you enjoy Forgotten Weapons, check out its sister channel, InRangeTV! / inrangetvshow
always good to see mortars being a viable concealed carry alternative
As a infantryman myself; i would appreciate a mortar fire from whomever would fire ìt, so this thing is a nice thing to have in a squad level.. xD
CCW is conceal carry weapon so mortars are 100% on that list.
I'm not in the military and i'm sure it changes by branch but i believe each squad has a designated marksman while each company has Anti-Tank and Mortar Sections attached to it. Whether or not each squad gets allocated lighter AT weapons Like LAWs or AT-4s im not sure. I really only know stuff about WW2 so I could be wrong.
@@alaric_3015 on paper, GMGs, DMRs, AT and Morats are part of a company's weapons platoon.
For when you come under assault from balloon animals and small children.
I never thought the word 'adorable' would perfectly describe a mortar.
Thank you for another fantastic video.
If anyone other than gun Jesus called it adorable I would think they're nuts.
We need to have a statue of Ian with all the forgotten weapons of the world surrounding him!
The perfect "first gun" for your toddler artillery crew!
I don't know about that claim of "most adorable", I've always been fond of the "knee mortar" myself.
Does make you wonder, Ian says a mortar is adorable, and 211 of us go Ahh! and agree. Well I tried normal once, just couldn't get on with it.
question how many more weapons are adorable? I know there are a few tanks people says are adorable.
French definitely had best WW1 era guns. The only problem is they had it in late 30's.
Another problem was that they hade a lot of the generals from ww1 still around then.
Alexander Marinin
The BAR, Browning 1919 (technically not WW1) and 1911 were pretty cool, too.
If you follow F.W. you should know that the M1 Garand was partially inspired by a french rifle mate.
Most weapon was inspired from something that came before. them someone thouth, change a few things and we get a better weapon.
Thinking about Chauchat...
This looks like it passes my "take it for a 50 mile hike" test. Way too many Pre-WWII military arms don't. This looks like a mortar designed by people who actually have to carry it.
You carry the most firepower you can... war is not a nature stroll.
@@jameshay7247 the larger the launcher the less ammo you have. And a large launcher means that fewer soldiers carry them, too heavy to be a secondary weapon. Big mortars are confined to fixed positions and aren't very useful.
@@SonsOfLorgar Ian just reviewed a 14kg German mortar right after this video that was pulled off of the front lines mid war because it wasn't useful. 1944 they started cranking these French ones out again and used them for three more decades. Light mortars need to be light. 14kg is mobile artillery (ie able to be transported by vehicles or horses) but it isn't portable by people who have to walk, ford rivers or scale obstacles. Range toy unsuitable to real world environments. This French mortar is so light I can easily imagine a soldier volunteering to carry it if the soldier assigned to it was injured. Why not? No big deal. The 14kg German one... uh, leave it in a ditch somewhere. Only slows you down.
The M224 60mm mortar is a foot-mobile, company-level weapon. In "patrol" configuration it weighs 18 lbs unloaded (yes, you can carry a round in the tube, ready-to-fire). 60mm mortar crews carry M-4s, just like everyone else. Fire-team level 40mm grenade launchers provide indirect fire at short range. 60mm provides larger blast radius for HE, larger density and coverage for smoke and incendiary (WP and RP), and more effective illumination. 60mm mortars outrange 50mms and get on target faster, due to the greater kill radius of the shells. Maybe the US military actually knows what they are doing. :/
The M224 is actually a pretty fascinating weapon. It was designed in the 1970's based on lessons learned from the Vietnam War. It combines the best qualities of the Japanese knee mortar (in "patrol" configuration) and the German or French 5cms (in bipod configuration). Modern alloys used in the construction of both the weapon system and ammunition allowed the range and power upgrade to 60mm, and better accuracy. Technology marches on. : )
If pixar did mortars it'd look like that 😂
See a little mortar hop up to a Pixar logo and blow away the letter A and hop into its place.
@@Hybris51129 I'd definitely watch that lol
I can see the tactical value of such a handy little mortar as an infantry weapon. It wouldn’t replace your heavy mortars, but just give each rifle platoon an extra tool to engage the enemy.
Any guerilla army force would be a great menace with such things.
Which was exactly what the French planned to use it for. Light 50mm mortar for the platoon, 60mm mortar for the company and 81mm mortars for the battalion.
Yeah French army today seem use them quite a lot in Africa where getting heavy artillery in place is a challenge.
it looks like a spiritual ancestor to the bloop tube
France: we have designed the most portable mortar known to man!
Japan: hold my sake....
German: "Leicht" is overrated. Ja?
love your name and profile pic 🙂
South Africa: hold my boerie.
Italy: If you can make it light, then what about rapid-fire mortars that shoots faster than a rifle?
Actually japanese knee mortar is quite heavy with 4.7 kg compared to this with 3.6 kg secondly japanese mortar was designed more for targets which can be seen whereas this can be used for indirect firing too, japanese mortar is good but I will prefer this anytime....
5/9/2022 08:28...
This seems to be the perfect mortar for paratroopers and light infantry of the WW2 era. Light package that offers support to distances beyond what you can do with hand grenades, rifles or even light machineguns.
I don't how well you can shoot but I 460 meters isn't very far for a rifle, especially a machine gun
Without a scope, the average rifleman will not hit an enemy soldier 400 meters away. Kills like that on moving/hiding targets are for excellent snipers. In practise this mortar extended the range where a unit could reliably harm enemies.
@@chickenman1801 It was not expected of this mortar to tackle distant targets. That was for the infantry's Brandt or standard mortars. This was intended to deal with the range gap that existed between the infantry's mortars and hand grenades. An issue that still exists today but is finally being closed by drones.
This will be perfect for my "Overly Elaborate Potato Luancher" collection! Thanks Ian!
MrFang333333 ha!
ya gonna love the german mortar then
When folded, it appears to only be slightly larger than an extended E-tool. Seems this would have been quite handy for a light infantry unit.
The modern French army uses a personal mortar similar to this one called the Mle F1, seems like things never really fade out
I had the same thought-ish. I carried the wooden handled entrenching tool and that mortar is only slightly larger.
Desktop mortar?
I'd conceal carry one everywhere.
Traffic jam? Grenade spam.
Bus full? Grenades will solve it.
Boring day at work? You know what to do.
Cops knocking on your door. Because you killed a few people with that mortar? Better run, TBH.
It's the perfect size for cats & dogs to battle each other with
Makes a heck of a paperweight.
@@jimvandemoter6961
"The deadliest paperweight in existence. Don't delay, fire today."
This Would Fun In A Cubicle lol
...is that a mortar in your pocket or you are really happy to see me?
POKEMORTAR
You know, maybe THAT'S why the Germans made their "light" mortar so big, so they could schlonk it on the table in front of the French women and say "mine's bigger, ja?"
Hello from England, my American Brothers and Sisters. I have only a vague interest in firearms, or I had, I should say (I shot a bit in my youth - the L98, they called it. The Cadet version of the SA80. Yes, it was that bad. You had to pull the cocking handle right back, then release it without any forward pushing, or it would jam). I stumbled upon Forgotten Weapons on youtube some time ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s not just the guns (although they are cool, there’s no denying). The best CZcams channels are those where the presenter’s natural intelligence, knowledge and charisma shine through. It’s like having a good teacher - it enriches the subject. I love Ian’s use of language - a precisely applied, wide vocabulary that can only have come from years and years of detailed reading and could only be so effectively used by a capable intellect. With that in mind I have been keeping a list of my favourite words and phrases from Forgotten Weapons. Forgotten Weapons-isms, you might say. Fwisms. Yes, these are my favourite Fwisms:
Cartouche - If there’s a more elegant word in the English language, I haven’t heard it.
Auto - Pronounce it as Ian does: “Haught-oh”. Lovely.
Pattern - Apply the same gentle stress on the ‘t’ as in “Auto”.
At any rate - Back to the matter in hand after a fascinating diversion.
Goofy - It may be fun shooting up that old truck, but bear in mind, it’s a goofy target… Also used to describe design quirks.
Panache - Yes, Ian, I completely agree. Panache is EXACTLY what those Webley Revolvers have got.
Universal Disassembly Tool - Need I explain?
A few misconceptions - Everything you think you know about this gun is wrong.
Lug - A metallic protrusion for the purposes of facilitating assembly or cycling the action.
Slick - A well designed firearm, particularly during disassembly.
Sporterized - I don’t know what this means, but it’s something ghastly that happens to otherwise handsome, antique rifles.
Adorable - used for this mortar, but has definitely been used before!
(Ian, if you happen to read this, sorry if it comes across as weird. I’m not taking the piss, I genuinely love your use if language, it’s a daily joy).
Matt Rodda firearms are fun. It's a shame so many people in the world hate them.
Ian has literal days worth of videos for the Forgotten Weapons channel. He's also in a channel called InRangeTV where he focuses more on the implementation of firearms
It's really normal that Cartouche is a beautiful word, it's a french one :)
Matt, hello. Yes, Ian's great. Like you, I'm a history nut. Check out C&Rsenal, and Iraqvet8888. Eric does a wide range from modern to vintage, including classic British arms.
sporterization is where you take for example a kar 98k and put it in a new stock and weld a rail on top and sort of make it your own, which obviously devalues it a shitton
Put this at post office and deliver papers in mornings without going anywhere.
A mortar you can conceal and carry.
ill take 2
Cat I’d like to see Ian pitch up with one of these, on one of those tedious “what the best CCW” videos so prevalent on YT
"What's the best weapon to concealed carry? As always it depends on your circumstances. While many like to carry a handgun in the car I prefer this 50mm mortar, in case I have a meeting and the highway is once again jammed."
If you think this is the best conceal and carry mortar, the Russians made a 37m mortar that can turn into a spade.
@@gunnerr8476
When he folded this one it kinda looked like a spade.
I guess you could say there's *MORTAR* this little guy than you think!
Imma leave now.
I mean, you don't have to... If you don't want to
You may think you're just projecting your insecurities, but that pun was on target.
OOOOOOOHHHH MAAANNNN!!!!!!! You didn't, oh yeah, you did.You actually went there. (Secret LOL. Don't tell anyone.)
Edward John Abaring. Oh my God.
See that you do... and take your French defending army with you.
I saw the thumbnail, and i was expecting something serious, but the second i first saw it my fisrt thought was" OH MY GOD ITS SO CUTE!" how can something so adorable be dangerous?
You haven't met my ex-wife....
I did, ypu're totallly rigth!
What about the minute you second saw it?
psychology warfare
Zut alors!
That’s awesome!
at first I thought the teeth on top of the barrel were an early picatinny rail 😂
Add ze scope and laser and flashlight and.......
I would love to own myself a mortar. I've always been fascinated by the idea that a small team of soldiers could, by itself, put down a barrage on the enemy that work even indirectly (i.e. out of a trench or foxhole into another trench). These ultraportable mortars with only a small grenade call out to me, I'd love to actually use one of these on a range.
Klobi for President Concur
Those grenades be so expensive
We need a “run and gun” accuracy test between this and the 50mm german mortar. (Make Carl carry the German one)
Say hello to my little friend!
Stralis123 I think you mean, “Say bonjour to my petit ami!”
Dis bonjour à mon petit ami!
mazkact "Bonjour petit tamis" :D
Bonjour
Very cool. Nice idea to have a portable short range indirect fire weapon with the infantry. No need for radios, or telephones, or to be on waiting list for fire support it is integral to your unit.
Having already watched the next video with the German mortar I have to say that this one was designed by someone who had the end user in mind. Light and simple to use, just what your average soldier wants.
These must have been great in Indochina. Small, light, easily portable and deployed. All things you want in a jungle when backup might be 3 hours away and the enemy is 300m "that way" with 30m visibility.
A folding travel mortar. Coming up next on the Chieftan's channel, a review of the collapsible suitcase tank, perfect for your commute.
Mr. Ian, votre prononciation française s'améliore de jour en jour! Félicitations !
this is the cutest little bit of artillery i have ever seen
Looks like baby's 1st mortar
"Don't buy children rifles. They are too large and unwieldy for them to handle. Get them a mortar instead, they'll learn teamwork and as long as they don't look into the barrel there's no way for them to accidentally kill one another."
Daycare: "Ok children, today we´ll be doing mortar drills."
@@Taistelukalkkuna Russian education system?
@@SonsOfLorgar
What I found to be very useful was a FlaK 38 Vierling. It's of course in a stationary position because of its high weight, but when there's a celebration of sorts our fireworks are the best in town.
feels more like NorthKorea Education.... to soon.
Imagine being in a battle with the block of houses down the street, something like this could be set up at a corner of a building and used to lob shells their way. Add someone to spot the impacts and shout directions at you would make this extremely effective in taking/suppressing an enemy position.
Hey, Ian! Big fan subbed from 2007 when I first made my youtube account. Just wanted to say thanks for the finnish m39!!! You'll have good faith to know that it is in a good safe home of someone who appreciates it's history and condition!
Very cool DD. I found pictures of dummy rounds on the internet and it looks like you make practice rounds pretty easy and use the same type of shot gun hull lifting charges that are used in 60mm tubes used in US mortars. Damn this video, you might have just cost me money, I might have to bid on this one.
Mongo63a good luck, and don’t forget to make a video if you get it!
I owned one of these that I had picked up at a Phoenix gunshow. It was a very cool unit and I loved how compact and handy it was. The venting system was ingenious. It was fun to mess around with.
Damn. ill be honest Ian, I don't share a love of French Arms but your love of them generally gets me to watch those videos anyways. Having said that, this is definitely now my favorite mortar type weapon system. Is there any reason technologically why something this light, portable, and range adjustable through developed pressure rather than declination adjustment wasn't available in WW1? I could just imagine what effect something like this could have had on repulsing counter attacks during trench warfare or targeting man traps and barbed wire on attack.
yomaze2009 same, I really find them boring. Yet Ian keeps me watching
When you think of it military doctrine is a kind of technology. We see this happening again and again like the socket bayonet appearing 3 centuries after the firearm.
Joaquim Guerreiro Agree that military tactics are definitely directly tied to the direction of what weapon systems/all soldier kit/all war kit gets accepted and enhanced through history. Having watched "the great war's" recent videos on logistics I would also say that logistics, in it's proto modern form with Napoleonic wars through to WW1 seemed to be equally a technology that influenced weapon systems. (Edit: Not on par with tactics at first. Tactics was viewed as much more important pre/early ww1 with logistics a secondary concern. Over time in ww1 though logistics became on par with tactics in influencing military kit. I wonder if Ian and The Great War guys did a special together if they couldn't give us a better understanding of how sacrifices in weapon design/performance were made to make the logistical load of fielding and supplying the system with its necessary inputs a reasonable task or possibly an advantage? ; ; nudge nudge Ian, haha.
Actually, it can fire really fast. Up to 20 grenades per minute. It was planned to equip each squad with one of this.
Pit Schmit interesting. Thanks for posting. -Marky
Lay down nice barrage with that
also, this is in the same category as the "knee mortar" - something that's small light and handy enough for you to try firing handheld and really hurting yourself :P
If you think that's simple you should see a British SBML 2" mortar.
There was no bipod, the user held the mortar tube by hand. And after it's initial service the clinometer sight was discarded and replaced by a white line painted on the back of the tube.
In the description text: "Only in the late 1930s when was was looking imminent did the program finally move forward." The first "was" should be corrected to "war." Thanks.
Probably the only mortar you could conceal carry.
That range setting is really creative and cool. I love it
Being able to have mortar support that close would be awesome. Certainly, you could fire high explosive... but being able to deliver smoke or even flares would have a great advantage.
Oh come on, Ian, you need this knee knocker so you can have a matching set of book ends in your library. Or maybe even a set of bedside lamps. Just remember which one is deactivated or you'll have a new nightlight in your ceiling.
I love how this proves the point that you made, Ian, a few months ago, that the French could come up with some of the best solutions militarily out there, but way too late for it to be impactful in a really meaningful way. I think you made that point in your MAS-36 video, saying that theMAS-36 is probably one of the best miitary bolt-action rifles, buuuuut everyone is going over to semi-automatics now.
Also, does this take glock magazines?
In many cases France was on the cutting edge but stuck with their super cool first of a kind way too long.
piritskenyer,
Remember that the MAS36 was not intended to be a battle rifle, but to be distributed to drivers, artillery crews etc....Unfortunatly this part of the french military modernization program was more advanced than the one of the semi auto rifle. Which was almost ready to run into production. But shit happens....
@@Zorglub1966 yes, I am aware of that. Despite that, or maybe exactly for that reason, it was an excellent rifle, both in terms of manufacturing tech and combat practicality. The MAS 40 shares many traits of the 36, including the stupidproof sights. I stand by what I said there.
piritskenyer,
Sorry for the delay, i translated cautiously.
You're rigth, but i meant it was not on purpose, and out of the locked sight adjustment i sincerely don't understand why sharing some traits between MAS36 and MAS should be a problem.
Anyway, whathever the amount of modern individual infantry weapons available, it would certainly not changed anything for the french armies.
Looked at the thumbnail and thought it was a camera on a bipod :/
A mortar you can conceal carry in a backpack?
Sold I’ll take two
Invictus Prima
Perfect for picnics.
If the French Model 38 mortar is cute, is the Japanese knee mortar kawaii ? Great video Ian, thanks so much.
I've never realized the M32 Grenade Launcher was a light mortar.
I didn't know I needed this in my life, but now I do.
Very insightful although worrying video. Worrying because there's pattern building if you take under consideration previous videos (particularly Bofors AA gun). Forgive me my bold question Ian but it looks like you readying for large scale invasion: should I buy something unreliable, with bad fuel economy and a large calibre gun turret? Just asking...
Range session to come??
Fantastic brief. Thank you
Pretty brilliant design, all in all.
Those Frenchies never stop to amaze.
What an adorable little mortar!
That thing is so small I bet at least one person during the war tried to use like a direct fire piece
Not so much cute when it's fired at you. Still the elder brother to F1 mle lgi 51 mortar and distant relative to knee mortar. Brings smiles on the face of soldiers when issued but brings dread on the faced of enemy when fired.
Beautiful design. Simple, light, and portable. A well trained group of crews could rain down HE well beyond rifle range and keep the hate coming all the way up to 80 meters. Fall back and repeat. I love it!
Up here in Canada mortars aren't even considered firearms because the projectile travels less than 500 feet per sec so you can own working mortars with no license or restrictions, that being said you can not own the explosive projectiles for them at all.
A video on RM-38 would be an excellent follow-up
The welds on the bottom of that base plate remind me of my crappy welds from high school shop class.
Another great video
Thank you GunJesus, very cool
Make your next Bastille Day really pop with some home made fireworks
A 4 man team could put a lot of hand grenade sized weapons a couple hundred yards down range. Good field weapon.
Italian Brixia Model 35 is even more 'adorable'
That thing looks like you could put it in a holster like the one for your entrenching tool hang it on a ruck sack and probably carry it and a reasonable number of rounds if you where a 2 person team the other person could carry a little more and it would make a highly mobile fire support team.
That thing would kick ass set up to throw old-school lawn darts, and then actually play a game with two of em! Ha!
OMG! Its so cute and tiny! I wonder if compared to the other mortars of the time, would this be considered a "micro" mortar? ^.^
High tensile 81mm mortars are adorable.
A very handsome desk conversation piece or paperweight.
8:06 - Best sound effects ever.
It is adorably cute.... who’s a cute little mortar... you are... that’s a good mortar!
it's just a little guy. a smol dude.
Well Ian it sounds like you need to add this your collection.
Ian's " Chauchat " pronunciation now reaches a A+ , according to me
50mm Baguette dispenser. Love it
The Legion did use these through the Algerian war as well as the trusty rifle grenades.
Sometimes this stuff is more advanced than more modern stuff
Really neat and gadgety too.
Wow this thing is so slick. Doesn't it have a place on a modern battlefield? I can totally see this in a F.O.P. used to shell weapon suggling convoys and stuff at night. Maybe give it a whole range of munnitions like smoke and star shells.
In “Le Massacre De Notre Infanterie”, mention is made of ‘The Infantry Cannon System Archer’. It seems to have been a casualty of France’s military industrial complex. Archer wasn’t one of ‘the boys’ and his weapon wasn’t expensive enough. Out of a couple of thousand made, only 2-300 were actually sent to the front. Most were destroyed after the armistice. Have you seen an example of this?
One can imagine this would have been a nice thing for advancing troops or paratroopers dropped in Normandy.
Wow Picatinny Rails in 1937? Never thought they were that old!
Wow the vent hole concept is super neat
Instead of moving the point of impact, the actually changed the acceleration, affectively altering the range.
what a beautiful tiny pocket mortar
10/cute, would put it in my pocket
..le petit mortar..
Une mortarette?
I was wondering where I had seen one of these before, on your coffee table.
Yup. Mine is deactivated though; has a big slot cut in the barrel.
Seems like it would be a great squad-level support weapon, one that can be easily brought on "routine" patrols and such. Make it with modern alloys, maybe some carbon fiber and use modern propellants to improve range and reduce weight even more. With a map and some good adjustment system on the mortar, you could act like a regular mortar team and drop grenades very accurately.
Or... you could use a modern, lightweight 60mm mortar, with the large array of NATO-spec projectiles already designed for it (and the 40mm grenade launchers already issued to each infantry fire team).
What a cute little mortar. I am kind of cheap though so I think deactivated is right for me. Costs a lot less. Besides, shooting the thing would be very difficult to do. Maybe out west it would be better.
At last!!!!! Thank you!!!
that spiral ring with the amber numbers and the natural patina is very pretty just as a
koff koff objet d'art. I'd put one of those on my coffee table or big wonderwall, anytime. Even a good replica would be nice.
/bs french art student talk
That is a beatiful mortar
A * D * O * R * A * B * L * E
:3
Yup. We have one of those. They are pretty small. Not well known in the US.
Marky
A video on the Italian Brixia would be nice
This would be my first choice for an every day carry mortar.
Typo in the description: "When WAS was looking imminent..."
Ian, you need to buy this.
Elegantly simple.
The first thing I thought of when looking at this was how to stick it under the barrel of a rifle.
You should do a video on the Soviet 37mm "Spade Mortar" from the 30's. There probably aren't many around, but it was so simple you could pretty easily make a mock-up good enough to demonstrate the thing. They used them in the very beginning of WWII but they fell out of favour pretty quickly for some reason. Cool weapon though.