China Lake: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:Weapons]]
[[Category:Weapons of Vietnam]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto;text-align: center;width:90%"
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto;text-align: center;width:90%"
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! [[Damage]]!! Radius  
! [[Damage]]!! Radius  
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|[[File:Flag_us_new.png|50px]]<br><strong>[[US]]</strong> || [[File:Chinalake.png|512px]]<br><b>[[China Lake]]</b> || [[File:Weapon china lake.svg|512px]] || [[Gun Game]] || 4 / 8 || 125 || 175
|[[File:Flag_us_new.png|50px]]<br><strong>[[US]]</strong> || [[File:Chinalake.png|512px]]<br><b>[[China Lake]]</b> || [[File:Weapon china lake.svg|512px]] || [[Gun Game]]<br>[[Zombies]] || 3[[+1]] / 12 || 125 || 200
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! rowspan=2 | [[Fire Modes]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Fire Modes]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Fire Rate]]  
! rowspan=2 | [[Fire Rate]]  
! rolspan=2 | [[Bullet Spread °]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Bullet Spread °]]
! rolspan=2 | [[Range Modifier]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Range Modifier]]
! rolspan=2 | [[Muzzle Velocity]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Muzzle Velocity]]
! rolspan=2 | [[Projectile weight]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Projectile weight]]
! rolspan=2 | [[Weight]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Weight]]
! colspan=2 | Reload Speed
|-
|-
|[[]]||[[]]||Semi||RPM||° & ° [[ADS]]||Unaffected||m/s||g (gr)||kg (lbs)   
! Partial!! Empty
|-
|[[China Lake]]||[[Grenade Launcher]]||Semi||60 RPM||3° & 1° [[ADS]]||Unaffected||70 m/s||230 g (0.5 lbs)||7kg (15.43 lbs)||2.66 Seconds||6.066 Seconds  
|-
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! rowspan=2 | Full name  
! rowspan=2 | Full name  
! rowspan=2 | [[Ammo Type]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Caliber]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Place of Origin]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Place of Origin]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Date]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Date]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Armory]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Manufacturer]]  
! rowspan=2 | Barrel Length
! rowspan=2 | Barrel Length
! rowspan=2 | Total Length
! rowspan=2 | Total Length
! rowspan=2 | [[Weapon Script Name]]
! rowspan=2 | [[Weapon Script Name]]
|-
|-
|FN||AT||PoO||D8||Arm||in (mm)||in (mm)||weapon_
|China Lake pump-action grenade launcher||40mm grenade||[[USA]]||1967||Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake Facility||14.5 in (368 mm)||34.50 in (876 mm)||weapon_china_lake
|-
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|}


The China Lake pump-action grenade launcher or NATIC is a pump-action grenade launcher that was developed by the Special Projects Division of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, which provided equipment to United States Navy SEALs.
=HISTORY=
The M79 and XM148 grenade launchers were single-shot, and the repeating T148E1 grenade launcher was unreliable, so a request was made to China Lake engineers. Navy SEAL teams were pleased with the resultant pump-action grenade launcher. The tubular magazine held three 40x46mm grenades, and so with one grenade in the chamber, four grenades could be fired rapidly before reloading. In fact, a skilled operator could fire four aimed shots before the first one landed. The grenade launcher was extremely light for its size, since a significant portion of it was made of aluminium.


Submitted for field trials in Vietnam, this weapon apparently performed quite well with HE-Frag ammunition.
<hr>


The pump-action grenade launcher features leaf iron sights similar to the M79. The front sight is a fixed square notch. Depending on if the leaf is folded or not, the rear square notch is either fixed or adjustable from 75 to 400 m in 25 m increments.
'''China Lake grenade launcher''' (often called the “China Lake pump”) is a U.S.-made pump-action 40×46mm grenade launcher developed for Naval Special Warfare use during the Vietnam War. It uses a tubular magazine holding three grenades, plus one in the chamber, allowing four shots in rapid succession before reloading. It is best known for its very limited production and its association with U.S. Navy SEAL teams as a short-lived attempt to provide repeating 40mm firepower.


The larger screw on the left side of the receiver was designed for a quadrant sight to be mounted.
==HISTORY==
The weapon was developed at the Naval Weapons Center/Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake as a response to the limitations of single-shot launchers like the [[M79]] and [[XM148]] and the reliability problems of early repeating designs such as the T148E1. China Lake engineers applied pump-action shotgun concepts to a 40mm launcher, producing a compact repeating system that retained M79-like range and accuracy while greatly increasing immediate volume of fire. Reports from the period and later accounts describe it as well-received by some SEAL users and effective with standard HE-fragmentation ammunition in Vietnam.


Sources differ as to how many weapons were produced. One claims that between 20 and 30 were made. However, according to another source, only 16 were made. The highest original receiver number found is 50, but it may never have been made into a functional weapon. SEAL historian Kevin Dockery has confirmed 22 completed guns being carried on Navy records. Only three originals currently remain under US Navy control; the rest have been demilitarized.[3]
Sources differ on total production, with estimates commonly ranging from the mid-teens to a few dozen; later Navy-record checks cited by SEAL historian Kevin Dockery are often reported as confirming 22 completed guns. The launcher was never formally standardized with an official U.S. designation, and the names “NATIC” and “EX-41” are frequently described as mistaken or later, unrelated labels. Surviving originals are scarce, with documented examples in museum collections including the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum and Vietnam’s War Remnants Museum, while others remain in U.S. Navy custody.


The China Lake Model is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the "EX-41" or as the "China Lake NATIC". The EX-41 was a design prototype created in the mid-1990s based upon the earlier China Lake Model pump 40mm. The EX-41 was only produced as a single prototype as a follow-up design created two decades after the China Lake Model was produced. The China Lake NATIC designation is also erroneous as the weapon was never known by that designation. Since it was made on an ad hoc basis for special operations forces, it was not formally adopted and has no official military designation. Thus the SEALs referred to the experimental weapon as the "China Lake grenade launcher" in reference to the facility which produced it.[1]
===Sources===
* https://smallarmsreview.com/40mm-shoulder-fired-grenade-launchers-and-the-seals/ 40MM Shoulder-Fired Grenade Launchers and the SEALs | Small Arms Review
* https://smallarmsreview.com/treasures-of-the-udt-seal-museum/ Treasures of the UDT-SEAL Museum | Small Arms Review
* https://smallarmsreview.com/war-museums-of-vietnam/ War Museums of Vietnam (includes China Lake Pump observations) | Small Arms Review
* https://www.forgottenweapons.com/china-lake-40mm-pump-action-grenade-launcher/ China Lake 40mm Pump Action Grenade Launcher | Forgotten Weapons
* Dockery, Kevin. ''Weapons of the Navy SEALs''. Berkley Publishing Group, 2004.


All four remaining original China Lake Model grenade launchers are on display in museums. Serial number 4 is at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida while serial number 13 is on display in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Serial number 2 is stored at the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington DC. One additional launcher is on limited display in a military restricted US Navy facility at NSWC Crane.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Lake_grenade_launcher SOURCE]
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File:CHINA.jpg|China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
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File:NP2aVo4.jpeg|China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
File:Rdywaq5djj861.jpg|China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
File:China Lake 4x40 REMOV.jpg|CSG/Trident reproduction China Lake grenade launcher.
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Latest revision as of 23:16, 24 February 2026

Factions Weapon Icon Classes Ammo Explosion
Damage Radius

US
China Lake		 Gun Game
Zombies		 3+1 / 12 125 200
Designation Weapon Type Fire Modes Fire Rate Bullet Spread ° Range Modifier Muzzle Velocity Projectile weight Weight Reload Speed
Partial Empty
China Lake Grenade Launcher Semi 60 RPM 3° & 1° ADS Unaffected 70 m/s 230 g (0.5 lbs) 7kg (15.43 lbs) 2.66 Seconds 6.066 Seconds
Full name Caliber Place of Origin Date Manufacturer Barrel Length Total Length Weapon Script Name
China Lake pump-action grenade launcher 40mm grenade USA 1967 Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake Facility 14.5 in (368 mm) 34.50 in (876 mm) weapon_china_lake


China Lake grenade launcher (often called the “China Lake pump”) is a U.S.-made pump-action 40×46mm grenade launcher developed for Naval Special Warfare use during the Vietnam War. It uses a tubular magazine holding three grenades, plus one in the chamber, allowing four shots in rapid succession before reloading. It is best known for its very limited production and its association with U.S. Navy SEAL teams as a short-lived attempt to provide repeating 40mm firepower.

HISTORY

The weapon was developed at the Naval Weapons Center/Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake as a response to the limitations of single-shot launchers like the M79 and XM148 and the reliability problems of early repeating designs such as the T148E1. China Lake engineers applied pump-action shotgun concepts to a 40mm launcher, producing a compact repeating system that retained M79-like range and accuracy while greatly increasing immediate volume of fire. Reports from the period and later accounts describe it as well-received by some SEAL users and effective with standard HE-fragmentation ammunition in Vietnam.

Sources differ on total production, with estimates commonly ranging from the mid-teens to a few dozen; later Navy-record checks cited by SEAL historian Kevin Dockery are often reported as confirming 22 completed guns. The launcher was never formally standardized with an official U.S. designation, and the names “NATIC” and “EX-41” are frequently described as mistaken or later, unrelated labels. Surviving originals are scarce, with documented examples in museum collections including the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum and Vietnam’s War Remnants Museum, while others remain in U.S. Navy custody.

Sources

Real-Life Photos
  • China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
    China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
  • China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
    China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
  • China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
    China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
  • China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
    China Lake pump-action grenade launcher.
  • CSG/Trident reproduction China Lake grenade launcher.
    CSG/Trident reproduction China Lake grenade launcher.
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