While largely replaced by the M203, the M79 has remained in service in many units worldwide in niche roles. The M79 can fire a wide variety of 40 mm rounds, including explosive, anti-personnel, smoke, buckshot, flechette (pointed steel projectiles with a vaned tail for stable flight), and illumination.
Because of its distinctive report, it has earned the nicknames of 'Thumper', 'Thump-Gun', 'Bloop Tube', 'Big Ed', 'Elephant Gun,' and 'Blooper' among American soldiers as well as 'Can Cannon' in reference to the grenade size Australian units referred to it as the 'Wombat Gun'. The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and first appeared during the Vietnam War. Springfield Armory, Action Manufacturing Company, Exotic Metal Products, Kanarr Corporation, and Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge
