The M203 grenade launcher has been in continuous service since 1968.  It was developed during the Vietnam War to get the grenadier into the battle when his launcher was either out of grenades or in an area where it would be ineffective.  The grenadier armed with a standalone M79 grenade launcher was considered a man down in an ambush or firefight because he did not have a rifle.  The thought was to combine both the grenade launcher with the M16A1 rifle.  Now we have severely increased the firepower on that individual level.  That concept has been in place ever since.

The M203 is the poster child of simplicity.  It is a slide action single shot launcher with very few parts and very little to go wrong.  The M203 developed a reputation for reliability with a service life of up to 10,000 rounds and an effective range of 350 meters.  The well trained grenadier could fire up to 7 grenades per minute.  The launcher weighs 3 pounds and is manufactured from 7075 T6 aircraft aluminum, same as that of the M16/M4 series of rifles.  The M203 has been adapted to both the M16 series rifles as well as M4 series of carbines.  It has also been adapted to many other weapons systems throughout the world.  The M203 has been manufactured by many companies throughout the years including Colt, Colt Canada/Diemaco, U.S. Ordnance, Airtronic USA, RM Equipment, Knights Armament Company and Lewis Machine & Tool.

This Danish soldier got brave enough to fire the M203-2003 in a pistol configuration by removing the stock assembly. He is experimenting on shooting without the benefit of sights.

The standard M203 launcher attaches to an M16/M4 series rifle via a locator pin on the rear of the launcher that index on the scallop of the barrel nut.  Then the front of the launcher is bolted to the barrel.  It bolts under the handguard on the rifle and on the carbine to a step cut in the barrel in front of the front sight base.  The three screws that lock the launcher to the barrel are then held in place with braided safety wire.  There are various types of handguards that go on the top of the launcher.  One is the standard rifle top handguard, which has the leaf sight attached to the top.  Also the top of the M4 and M5 RAS can be installed with a detachable leaf sight.  The carbine has a similar one-piece handguard with a mounted leaf sight as well as a modified round top handguard with the leaf site mounted on top.

The leaf sight is very simple with 50 yard increments from 50 to 250 meters.  The site can be adjusted via screw driver for elevation and windage for zeroing.  The detachable leaf sight mounts to the top Mil-Std 1913 rail.  The leaf sight is lined up with the front sight post for the sight picture.  Keep in mind grenade launchers are area weapons, not precision weapons.  Being able to determine distance is a critical skill of a good grenadier.

Shown is the LMT Guardian 2000 rifle with a standard M4 profile 14.5-inch barrel equipped with a LMT manufactured standard M203 grenade launcher with the 12-inch standard length barrel. This model grenade launcher has been sold to the U.S. Army as well as the Navy not to mention foreign military sales.

The rear quadrant sight is far more precise than the leaf sight.  Mounted to the carrying handle, the sight has a fold out peep sight and front sight post, which are both adjustable.  There are two mounts for the quadrant sight.  One is for the fixed M16/M16A1 and M16A2 carrying handle.  This one is now obsolete.  The second mounts to all the fixed carrying handles as well as the detachable carrying handles of the M16A4 and M4 series rifles and carbines.  The range of these sights is also in 50 meter increments but it ranges from 50 to 400 meters.  This is the preferred sight but these days not practical due to the use of optics on the weapons.  Reed Knight came out with a quad sight that mounts on the left side of the Mil-Std 1913 handguard.

The barrel comes in both 9- and 12-inch lengths.  The barrel has 6 lands and grooves with a right twist and 1 turn in 48 inches.  Inside the chamber are two cartridge holders that hold the grenade into the barrel.

By unscrewing four Torx bolts, the stock assembly is removed from the frame offering a pistol grenade launcher. Although a little on the uncomfortable side to fire, it is compact and effective.

The cycle of operations is quite simple.  On the top of the barrel is a barrel extension.  When the barrel is slid forward, the follower is pulled forward cocking the firing pin to the rear until it is held by the trigger.  The barrel is slid rearward until it is held in place by the barrel latch.  The trigger is pulled and releases the spring loaded firing pin/striker to hit the primer on the launcher, firing the High-Low Propulsion System grenade.  Once fired, the grenadier depresses the barrel latch and slides the barrel forward.  Several actions now happed.  First the extractor on the bottom of the launcher holds the rim of the case against the breech.  Once the cartridge case clears the barrel the spring loaded ejector kicks the fired cartridge case out of the breech of the launcher.  As the barrel continually moved forward the follower cocks the firing pin/striker.  Now the launcher is ready to be reloaded.

The grenades are very interesting in how the propulsion system works.  When the firing pin strikes the primer, the flash ignites the propellant in the brass propellant charge cup inside the high pressure chamber.  The rapidly increasing pressure reaches 35,000 PSI in the cup and ruptures at the vent holes.  The gas then vents into the low pressure chamber and the pressure is reduced to 3,000 PSI which propels the grenade through the bore to downrange.

The M203 grenade launcher first saw service in the early 1970s in the Vietnam War. The proven design has seen service all over the world and is in no danger of stopping. Simplicity and reliability is a true timeless design that never becomes outdated.

The 40mm round is very versatile, from practice rounds, to high explosive rounds to less than lethal rounds.  The standard M781 is a practice round that is filled with orange powder.  The M576 is a buckshot cartridge and there is a CS gas round for both military and law enforcement applications.  There are multiple high explosive rounds with the most common being the M397 Jump Up Fragmentation grenade and the M381 High Explosive grenade.  There are various parachute illumination flares as well as smoke grenades.  Less than lethal rounds consist of rubber ball, impact batons, foam impact rounds, barricade penetrator and distraction projectiles, to name a few.

Enter Lewis Machine & Tool into the M203 Market
In 1986, Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT) began production of M203 barrels for the U.S. Army followed in the early 1990s with production of receivers for the launcher.  Around that same time, Karl Lewis figured if they were making barrels and receivers, they might as well just make the whole thing.  From that point LMT manufactured parts as well as launchers under private labels of other defense manufacturers. In early 2000, LMT was awarded a contract for a large number of complete M203 grenade launchers for the U.S. Navy including the Naval Special Warfare Center.  In the intervening years, many sales of launchers have been sold throughout the world under the LMT name or under the label of the contracting company.  As of 2013, LMT manufactures a large number of grenade launchers under their own brand and sold throughout the world.  They also sell a large number under private labels as well.  They manufacture components for other manufacturers to put in their launchers.

Shown is the standard LMT M203 grenade launcher (top) as well as the new M203-2003 rail mounted grenade launcher (bottom). Notice the 12-inch barrel on the standard M203 and the 9-inch barrel on the M203-2003

In 2003, LMT introduced their first new launcher.  It is a M203 launcher but it is rail mounted.  This was done for the most part out of the requirements for the SCAR program.  At the same time, LMT introduced their MRP or Monolithic Rail Platform.  This was the industry’s first 1-piece upper receiver.  Due to it being manufactured from a single aluminum forging, the launcher could be mounted directly to the bottom rail, which is the Mil-Std 1913 rail.  Owing to the construction, the launcher never touches the free floating barrel.  In fact, any accessory could be mounted to the quad rails on the MRP with no ill effects on the barrel whatsoever.  The new M203-2003 launcher was a compilation of lessons learned from producing the standard M203.  Improvements in manufacturing techniques, materials and know-how made this even that much better than the standard run of the mill GI M203 grenade launcher.  The M203-2003 rail mounted launcher was modified to give an additional 3/8 of an inch more length to the open action allowing insertion of longer 40mm cartridges.  This was done by developing a different barrel stop.  The rail mounted launcher is held in with three Torx screws.  There are three stop notches machined into the rail of the launcher as well as three additional screws that lock into the notches for positive retention.  Although this is rail mounted, you must be careful which rails you put them on.  There is a significant amount of recoil generated by the launcher and many rails, including rails with removable bottom rails, will not stand up to heavy use.  LMT recommends that it go on a stationary lower receiver for full service life.  These include the Colt Canada/Diemaco IUR and LMT MRP.  There have been some adapters as well made for AK-type rifles.  There are perhaps others but the factory has not tested them so they can not endorse their use and ability to withstand the recoil of the 40mm round.

The rail mounted M203-2003 is held onto the rail by three Torx T27 bolts, which can be assembled by an end user rather than only by an armorer such as that is required for the installation of the standard M203.

As with many products in the industry, what is old is new again.  Although the M203 replaced the M79 stand alone launcher, there are those out in the field who like to have a separate launcher from their primary weapon.  Taking this information, Lewis realized he could adapt his M203-2003 easily to a standalone launcher – so he did.  The stand alone launcher he developed was a real update from the M79.  It has a telescopic SOPMOD stock with six positions as well as four quick detachable sling swivel mounts as well as a LMT Ergo pistol grip.  For those who really wanted it to be even more compact, the stock assembly can be easily removed by the user to create a pistol launcher.  Although not comfortable to shoot, it is still quite effective and compact.  LMT created their own leaf sight.  Slight modifications to the standard leaf site had to be made due to the different distance between the muzzle and the sight: the longer distance between the muzzle and the sight when mounted on a rifle versus just a launcher.  The leaf sight had to be moved back farther on the standalone launcher.

One of the latest sales of the M203-2003 was to the Danish Army.  Trials were conducted with all the major launchers including the M320 that has replaced the M203 in the U.S. Army as well as the Colt Canada Eagle grenade launcher.  The Danes found that the benefit of double strike capability did not offer enough of an advantage over the M203 design because the trigger pull was so heavy it affected the accuracy of the launcher.  The trials showed the Danes clearly that the double action triggers caused a “jerk” that affected accuracy.  The M203-2003 also allowed the use of longer rounds than that of the standard M203, which was an added benefit.  They also had the requirement for the standalone launcher, which the launcher was specifically designed.  Their requirement was the use of an AimPoint red dot sight over traditional leaf and quadrant sights.  They did want the leaf as more of a back-up sight.  The rifles issued by the Danish Defense Force are the Colt Canada/Diemaco C8IUR (Integrated Upper Receiver), which is a one-piece upper receiver.  The M203-2003 fit with no issues.  Testing showed there were no failures with the LMT launcher even after 400 rounds of plastic training rounds were fired through a single launcher without any issues.  After the award was won, deliveries commenced in early 2013.

The AimPoint red dot sight mounted to a Swedish made SPUHR mount. The quality of this mount is extraordinary with fine machining like a Swiss watch. The mount is ambidextrous and equipped with tritium lamps to assist in adjustment in low level light. This was the chosen mount for the Danes as well as this optic. They will use the leaf sight as only a back-up sight

The setup of the optics chosen by the Danes was quite interesting.  They procured a mount manufactured by SPUHR out of Sweden.  Upon examination of this mount it looked like a precision well made instrument.  Extremely high quality and well thought out.  This is an ambidextrous mount and requires no extra parts for making the change from one side or the other.  For low light situations the mount had tritium inserts at the 100/200/300 meter settings so the user can easily adjust for range even in darkness.  The mount has a built in spin drift compensation based on the customer specification and grenades that are used.  This mount is being utilized on both the rifle mounted and stand alone launchers.  The Danes are quite fond of the tan color so the launchers and stand alone units are delivered in the tan color.

With so much talk in the U.S. about having to replace 50+ year old designs, a very simple fact is overlooked.  If it worked well in 1968, it will still work well in 2013.  There are no expiration dates on these weapons.  Simplicity is a common thread in durability and reliability.  The M203, although being phased out in the U.S., still is being purchased throughout the world.  It is still beating these newer designs in testing and evaluations throughout the world.  Over these years the system has been improved right up through the release of the LMT M203-2003.  This is what breathes new life into this timeless design.  It should be expected this design will be in use for the next 50 years throughout the world.

The Marine looked sharp.  He was dressed in the new MARPAT green camouflage pattern, cut to the US M1967 jungle style and matched to a cover of the same material; he wore the Special Forces harness and carried the M4A4 Carbine.  The same standard was observed in the hands of elements of the DM4 from Comandos de Morazán and other troops.  This was definitely a leap forward from the rag-tag look observed only a few months before when President Mauricio Funes had ordered the military to the streets in an attempt to curb rising criminal activity.  In early September 2010, the government made associations with street gangs illegal.  Late in that same month, public transportation was severely disrupted for three days by a strike enforced by street gangs, angry at a new law.  President Mauricio Funes introduced the measure in July – a month after suspected members of the M-18 gang opened fire on a bus and set it afire killing 17 passengers.  With troops in the streets, the neglected state of the military apparatus became more than evident.  The soldiers started to patrol in decrepit vehicles while carrying worn out weapons.  

The 20,000 strong Salvadorian National Civilian Police (PNC) equipped with 1,500 semiautomatic Galil (AR & SAR models), received hundreds of SAF submachine guns from Chile.  The GRP and other elite police outfits received MP5s, over 200 HK-33A5 and HK53A5 rifles and hundreds of Colt M4A1 Carbines.  The Army transferred 700 T65 and hundreds of M16 rifles.  The military also indicated in 2005-2006 that they had large quantities (600+) of brand-new Argentinean FMK-3 SMGs, which after the war were dumped in storage.  In 2010, private security guards were observed carrying the machine pistol with them, but if still available, the FMK-3 could also be handed over to the police.  Regardless of the weapon’s dubious reputation, it is understood that with quality ammunition, the FMK-3 is a reliable weapon.

The U.S. began to replace the G3 rifles in the hands of the Salvadorian Army in 1981 with the delivery of 11,868 AR-15A1 R613 (M16A1); followed by another 20,743 M16s purchased with FMS funds for El Salvador in 1982.  Many of these “new” rifles were actually leftovers from Vietnam.  Eventually, another 45,160 AR-15A1 R613 followed, to include more than 500 CAR-15A1 R639 (XM177E2 Commando – typified as M16A2 for El Salvador) to equip the Mechanized Infantry and officer Corps and hundreds of CAR-15A1 R653 (M16A1) Carbines starting in 1985, and even brand-new M16s supplied by Springfield Armory.

Salvadorian Marine with brand-new Colt M4A1 Carbine, SF Harness (designed by General Gustavo Perdomo), and new MARPAT uniform. (Julio Montes)

The Army Special Forces (CFE) consists of some 1,200 elements of the CFE, distributed among the Parachutist Battalion (functioning as a Ranger unit), the Special Antiterrorist Commando (CEAT), the Naval Commandos, and the Special Operations Group (GOES – comprising the long range reconnaissance commando PRAL, and the attack commando HACHA).  Some 10 years ago, the government purchased 600 FNC-90-00 and FNC-92-00 Carbines to equip the parachute battalion while the GOES was equipped with M16A2 Carbines and M16A2 Commandos and M4 with Mil-Std 1913 sight rail and retractable stock.  CFE elements were the only ones to receive Model 700 (M24), M14 and Model 82A1 Barrett rifles and M249 SAW light machine guns.  In 2006 the Salvadorians purchased 500 Colt M16A4, and a number of HK-416 models for the CFE.  The M16A4 were followed by a $209,629 contract from TACOM with Colt in 2007 for more than 64,460 M4, and another one in 2008 for more M4A1 Carbines to be delivered to El Salvador under FMS.  These numbers appear a little high, but if that is the case, the better.  The weapons were part of a US $7 million donation for the Salvadorian participation in Iraq, and they came along with 21 M1151 and 4 M1165 up-armored Humvees, equipped with a shielded 360-degree gunner turret and brand-new M2HB.  With the arrival of the M4, the Para Battalion relinquished its FNC Carbines to the Military Police, replacing the MP5.

In excess of 1,142 M60 machine guns were delivered between 1981 and 1992, along with more than 100 M60Ds.  There is also a report that 600 M60 machine guns were acquired at $1 each when the U.S. was dumping the M60 for the new MAG M240 around 2000.  With so many M60s in inventory, El Salvador should not be requiring new fire support weapons for awhile.  No need to re-invent the wheel and the weapon can simply be overhauled and retrofitted/upgraded to M60E4/MK 43 with kits already available in the market.  With this simpler fashion it could become the machine gun of the “future” for El Salvador.

The military received 1,704 M79 and 1,423 M203 grenade launchers as well.  The M79 remains in service and is in need of a face-lift instead of looking into the new M320 model.  The original M79 butt-stock could be replaced with composite plastic furniture, which can be purchased from commercial sources.  A few years back Milkor, from South Africa, exchanged the original stock of the M79 for a swing-around model, a pistol grip was added, and a new OEG sight fitted.  More recently, the Defcom M79 has been mentioned, sporting a front hand guard manufactured from composite materials, top of barrel fitted with Mil-Std 1913 Picatinny rail system, detachable flip-up scale graduated to 425 meters rear sight, folding stock, M16 style pistol grip, and other improvements.

GRP Elements preparing to storm a position during training. (J. Montes)

In Turmoil Once More
A riot broke out in January, 2007 when inmates of the Apanteos Prison picked up makeshift weapons and started fighting each other.  Military and police support units had to be called to quell the revolt, while 21bodies lay in the courtyard in the most grotesque manner: stabbed, beheaded, dismembered and hung – and the pictures made the world.  In November 2010, another riot broke out inside the same prison, leaving two dead, and 28 injured.  At about the same time another revolt broke out at La Esperanza Jail (better known as Mariona) in San Salvador’s suburbs of Mejicanos, leaving 13 injured; and in Ilobasco jail, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of San Salvador, a fire left at least 16 inmates dead and 22 injured.

These are not your average prison inmates.  The country has 19 prisons with capacity for 8,110 inmates, but holds 23,840.  Some 7,300 are gang members.  According to some, the inmates hold complete arsenals hidden inside the jails.  Furthermore, the jails have been used as command and control centers by the gangs, using cells phones, couriers (visitors), and others to order hits and control their “soldiers” in their neighborhoods.

By 2011, more than 8,500 troops were involved in internal security duties, and 800 more were needed.  This time, the Army was no longer under the control of the police (PNC), operating under military operational commands instead: Zumpul, in charge with surveillance of 62 “blind-spots” at the border, and Zeus, charged with general preventive patrols.  The troops have been providing partial security unsuccessfully under the command of the PNC at least since 1997, deploying 2,500 soldiers and 14 Cashuats APC to the Joint Task Force Groups (GTC – Grupos de Tarea Conjunta) under the PNC in 1999.  In 2005, the government ordered 1,000 soldiers to the streets following the murder of two police officers outside a night club, and continued violence.

Under the third military operational command San Carlos the Army has taken perimeter security of prisons in Quezaltepeque (La Libertad), Cojutepeque (Cuscatlán), Ciudad Barrios (San Miguel), Izalco (Sonsonate), Chalatenango and San Francisco Gotera (Morazán) while motorized units equipped with M1151 Up-armored Humvees patrol the perimeter of “Zacatras,” the Maximum security prison at Zacatecoluca City (La Paz).  In November 2010, the Army took La Esperanza Prison, in the suburbs of San Salvador, and a month later, with the support from a couple of helicopters and two M1151 Humvees equipped with M2HB, 128 soldiers moved against Apanteos prison.  At the time, the jail – designed to hold only 1,800 of the most dangerous inmates – held almost 3,600, some 500 of them with affiliation to the M-18 gang.