Arcus 40 MGL hand-held grenade launcher (Bulgaria)

Arcus 40 Handheld Grenade Launcher (40mm)

 

Specification Value
Full text name Arcus 40 MGL hand-held grenade launcher (Bulgaria)
Action type manual
Trigger type dao: Double Action Only
Overall length, mm 660
Weight empty, kg 2.95
Magazine capacity, rounds 3

 

The Arcus 40 MGL hand-held grenade launcher is a product of the Bulgarian small arms manufacturer Arcus. It is a little-known attempt to produce a multi-shot, stand alone 40mm grenade launcher, especially for the VOG-25 family of 40mm low velocity grenades. These grenades are of Soviet Russian origin (also produced in Bulgaria since Soviet times).

The grenades themselves are unique because they should be loaded from the muzzle, rear end first. So, until recently, only single shot and revolver designs were produced to fire these highly effective “caseless” rounds. The Arcus 40 MGL was an attempt to produce a more compact, rapid firing weapon, which, apparently, did not find many buyers.

Technical Description:

The Arcus 40 MGL hand-held grenade launcher utilises a tubular magazine in the butt that holds three VOG-25 rounds pointing rearwards (toward the buttplate). Its short barrel can rotate through 180 degrees around the vertical axis near its breech.

To load a fresh round from the magazine into the barrel, the user has to pull the vertical foregrip. This will rotate the barrel so its muzzle is pointing rearwards, and toward the magazine tube. Once barrel is in the loading position, the spring catch in the magazine is released and a fresh grenade is pushed base first into the barrel..

After that, using the same forward grip, the user returns the loaded barrel to the forward-pointing (firing) poisition. Once barrel is locked in the firing position, the user can pull the DAO trigger to fire the gun. The reloading sequence can be repeated until the magazine tube is empty, as there’s no empty case left in the barrel after each shot.