Deputy finds two smoke-grenade launchers near Milford Lake

Wichita Eagle ^ | 2005-01-13 | Associated Press

[Boundless]

MILFORD, Kan. - Geary County Sheriff Jim Jensen is
again concerned after a deputy discovered a pair of
smoke-grenade launchers in the same area near Milford
Lake where five military machine guns turned up two
weeks ago.
...
"These weapons may appear unserviceable, but if a
proper gunsmith gets a hold of them or if somebody
else wants to they could probably put them back to
working condition," Jensen said.

[Boundless]

This is a followup to the thread on the Fort Riley
discarded machine gun scandal:
Machine guns found near Kansas creek

The Junction City Daily Union also reported today's
update to this story, and had this material not in the W.E. version:

""They [the Fort] are not telling me what is going on.
However, they do respond when we call them, so I am
pleased with that," Jensen said. "I am pleased that
they respond because I don't need that kind of stuff.
I don't need those things in my evidence (locker).
It is their property, and they need to come and take
care of it."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Has the Army checked their inventory?

[andrew1957]

What's a smoke grenade launcher? An M-203? or what exactly?

[FreedomPoster]

Yeah, that's a new one on me, but I'm just an Army brat, not former military. Still, all I remember are the cylindrical smoke grenades (hand thrown), and 40mm smoke rounds that you'd fire with an M-79 or an M-203. "Smoke launcher"?

[mark502inf]

Look behind the loader's machinegun on the right and you'll see 6 short tubes on the turret. Those are smoke grenade launchers and there's another set on the other side of the turret. The idea is to launch them in a pattern around the tank for a quick means of concealment; works especialy well for wire guided missiles where the gunner has to keep the aiming reticle on the tank and guide the missile in.

[mark502inf]

ping to the post above

[ExSoldier]

Ahhhhh how I long for those heady days when I learned to make a Field Expedient Claymore Mine out of a folgers coffee can, black powder; some modeling clay and handfulls of metal screws for shrapnel all hooked up to a simple car battery. Later on I discovered other firing devices....Then there is the famed Fou Gasse" (pronounced foo-gas) which is a sort of ground mounted napalm. Wonderful stuff they teach at the Infantry Officer Basic Course.

[RadioAstronomer]

I used to buy military smoke grenades in surplus stores. Bet those days are gone.

[FreedomPoster]

Ah, thanks. Knew about those, they've been around at least since WWII. You can see them on the forward edge of this PzkwV here:

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/images/p5d1_1.jpg

Not something I ever thought of as being removable and usable off the vehicle. Those M-2s are another thing altogether, in that regard.