The Type 2 rifle grenade launcher was an attachment for the Japanese Type 38 and Type 99 rifles that allowed them to fire special

hollow charge A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, init ...

grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...

. It was a version of the German

Schiessbecher The Schiessbecher (alternatively: ''Schießbecher'') - literally "shooting cup" - was a German grenade launcher of World War II. A ''Gewehrgranatgerät'' ("rifle grenade device") based on rifle grenade launcher models designed during World War ...

grenade launcher. Two grenades were produced for the launcher: a 30 mm calibre grenade and a larger 40 mm calibre grenade, both designated Type 2. The launcher sits over the end of the barrel, held in place with a clamping device. A special crimped blank cartridge or wooden bullet is used to fire the grenades. The rear of the grenades is pre-rifled to mate with the

rifling In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the pro ...

in the launcher. The rifling ensures that the grenade is spun in flight, giving it stability and arming the rotational fuze. Both grenades use a largely identical fuze, which makes up the rear part of the grenade. On impact, momentum carries the striker assembly forward, overcoming the resistant force of a creep spring into the detonator.

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See also