Posted on 01/06/2013 11:02:09 AM PST by ColdOne
Only one problem. The story is pure puffery. These so-called “rocket launchers” the LAPD recovered weren't a danger to anyone. In fact, at least one of them was never a danger to anyone.
It turns out both were one-use, AT-4 grenade launchers used by the U.S. Army in anti-tank operations. Yes they are grenade launchers (not really "rocket" launchers proper) but these tubes are pre-packaged weapons that can be fired only one time and cannot be reloaded. They are one-shot only weapons. So, yes, that means the tubes the police had were completely and permanently harmless.
But even more absurdly, at least one of the tubes was a training piece and never fired a grenade and never could have. It was a device used only for showing young soldiers what such a weapon looks like. It is a hands-on training tool that is 100% inert, un-fireable, safe as a plastic kid's toy gun.
As Paul Szoldra explains, "It is, quite literally, a long, green fiberglass tube that does nothing."
Further, these hunks of plastic can be bought at many military surplus stores and have even turned up on on eBay in the past.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
...one-use, AT-4 grenade launchers.., completely and permanently harmless... at least one of the tubes was a training piece and never fired a grenade and never could have... Further, these hunks of plastic can be bought at many military surplus stores and have even turned up on on eBay in the past.
I wonder if this could have been LAPD’s kickoff of a “Blunt Object” buyback program. Hammers, clubs, baseball bats, “rocket launchers”, etc.
Because “Police Seize Harmless Plastic Tubes” doesn’t sell newspapers or attract the web clicks which pay the presstitutes’ salaries.
So, in other words, it was an “assault weapon!”
So somebody could buy a few of those scrap tubes for cheap and sell them to the LAPD who will gladly pay top dollar for plastic tubes...
I remember shooting those things in training - they were really fun weapons: You line up the sight, pull the trigger, and watch the glowing red ball (the end of the rocket, I guess) as it sped on its way to the target.
Hell I had one as a Kid. My old man was Army and so was I when old enough to walk and speak lol!
My deer rifle was a M-1 carbine!
Those are one use tubes Kinda a novelty when you play war with the other Military Brats!
There’s quite a bit of incorrect information around the Net about that overly expensive weapon. The extent of the confusion is a little funny, really. We live in a nation of mad civilian and REMF experts on everything combat.
:’)
the ignorance of the press in general about everything is even surpassed by their ignorance of anything military. (caveat i will grant you the naming of the post ww2 soviet reloadable bazooka an RPG (ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE) was pure advertising genius.)
the AT4 is/was a new version of the M-72 LIGHT AT weapon aka LAW. it is a one shot fire and forget anti tank rocket launcher. it does not shoot a missile it does not shoot a grenade. it shoots a rocket with a HEAT warhead to kill light armored vehicles. try using it on an M1 ABRAMS and you may survive because the crew will be laughing too hard to blow your butt away with a 120mm round.
Thanks bw.
Think one round and throw away bazooka.
You’ll poke your eye out. :)
Dang sure is.....and so is my Daisy Red Ryder if I hit somebody over the head with it!
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