The Mk 20 Mod 0 was a 40mm

automatic grenade launcher An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire, and is typically loaded with either an ammunition belt or magazine. These weapons are often mounted on vehicles or helicopte ...

manufactured by NOS Louisville which was used by the US Navy during the Vietnam War. It used a

blow-forward Blow-forward is a firearm action where the propellant gas pressure and the friction of the bullet traveling down the bore drag the whole gun barrel forward to facilitate the opening of the breech. This forward barrel motion provides most of t ...

mechanism that was previously used on semi-automatic pistols such as the

Steyr Mannlicher M1894 The Mannlicher M1894 was an early blow-forward semi-automatic pistol. General features The earliest Ferdinand Mannlicher pistol, manufactured by Fabrique D'Armes de Neuhausen, Switzerland, was designed to be self-loading and to use a special ...

and

Schwarzlose Model 1908 The Schwarzlose Model 1908 was a semi-automatic pistol, designed by Andreas Schwarzlose, released in 1908 in the German Empire and produced until 1911. Operation The Schwarzlose employs a very distinctive "blow-forward action" operating m ...

. The Mk 20 was eventually replaced by the Mk 19 Mod 3.

References

Mk20 Mod 0
{{Blow forward firearms Blow forward firearms Automatic grenade launchers 40×46mm grenade launchers Autocannon Machine guns of the United States 40 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1960s

See also

References