RG-6 (6G30) | |
---|---|
Type | Revolver grenade launcher |
Place of origin | Russia |
Service history | |
In service | 1994–present |
Used by | Russia |
Wars | First Chechen War Second Chechen War Syrian Civil War [ citation needed ] Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Russo-Ukraine War |
Production history | |
Designer | TsKIB SOO Valery Nicolayevich Telesh |
Designed | 1993–1994 |
Produced | 1994–present |
Specifications | |
Mass | 6.2 kg (13.67 lb) |
Length | 690 mm (27 in) stock extended / 520 mm (20.5 in) stock folded |
Width | 145 mm (5.7 in) |
Height | 280 mm (11 in) in combat / 200 mm (7.9 in) in travelling |
Cartridge | 40 mm caseless grenades |
Action | Double action |
Rate of fire | 2 rounds/sec (rapid fire) 16-18 rounds/min (sustained) |
Muzzle velocity | 76.5 m/s (251 ft/s) |
Maximum firing range | 400 m (1,300 ft) |
Feed system | 6-Round, Revolving, Swing Out-Type Cylinder |
Sights | folded, ladder-type rear sight |
The RG-6 (GRAU designation 6G30) is a Russian 40 mm, six-shot, revolver-type grenade launcher developed between 1993 and 1994 by Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Weapons (TsKIB SOO), Tula, Russia.
The RG-6 was required to increase the firepower of the infantry during urban combat, seen in small-scale conflicts, such as the Chechen wars. The RG-6 entered limited production by the mid-1990s and is now in use by various elements of Russian Army and special forces such as those in the MVD.
RG-6 is designed to fire all standard 40mm "caseless" grenades, available for the general issue GP-25 underbarrel launcher. The design of the RG-6 is, apparently, heavily influenced by the South African Milkor MGL grenade launcher, with some differences. The key difference is that the RG-6 uses "caseless" rounds, and thus its cylinder chambers are loaded from the front. The "barrel" is, in fact, a smoothbore tube, which serves only as a support for the front grip and sights.
The double-action only trigger unit is also modified from GP-25, with a manual safety and several automatic safeties.
The cylinder is rotated using a clockwork-type spring, which is manually wound during reloading. For reloading, the front cylinder plate with the "barrel" tube is unlocked from the frame and then rotated sideways, to expose the front of the cylinder. Each chamber in the cylinder is a separate muzzle-loading rifled barrel, similar in design to the GP-25 barrel.
The sights are folded for more convenient carry and storage, with a ladder-type rear sight. The buttstock is fitted with a rubber recoil pad, and when it is not in use, it is telescoped into the frame.
A revolver is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six cartridges, before needing to be reloaded, revolvers are commonly called six shooters or sixguns. Due to their rotating cylinder mechanism, they may also be called wheel guns.
A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The most common type are man-portable, shoulder-fired weapons issued to individuals, although larger crew-served launchers are issued at higher levels of organization by military forces.
Caseless ammunition (CL), or caseless cartridge, is a configuration of weapon-cartridge that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit. Instead, the propellant and primer are fitted to the projectile in another way so that a cartridge case is not needed, for example inside or outside the projectile depending on configuration.
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In firearms, the cylinder is the cylindrical, rotating part of a revolver containing multiple chambers, each of which is capable of holding a single cartridge. The cylinder rotates (revolves) around a central axis in the revolver's action to sequentially align each individual chamber with the barrel bore for repeated firing. Each time the gun is cocked, the cylinder indexes by one chamber. Serving the same function as a rotary magazine, the cylinder stores ammunitions within the revolver and allows it to fire multiple times before needing to reload.
The Ruger Vaquero is a six-shot single-action revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co. based on the New Model Ruger Blackhawk frame and was introduced in 1993. It comes in blued steel, case colored, and a gloss stainless finish, all of which are available with wood, hard rubber, simulated ivory or black micarta grips and fixed sights. It arose with the popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting from which came demand for a single-action revolver that was more traditional in appearance.
The Manville gun was a stockless, semi-automatic, revolver type gun, introduced in 1935 by Charles J. Manville. The Manville Gun was a large weapon, with a heavy cylinder being rotated for each shot by a clockwork-type spring. The spring was wound manually during the reloading.
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