These qualities kept it in use well into the late 21st century, showing that simplicity is beauty. However, it is quite compact, especially with the stock sawed off, while the straightforward optics, consisting of a fixed blade sight on the front and a folding leaf sight on the rear, enable accurate fire with just pointing and shooting. The one drawback is that the grenade launcher is single-shot only, reducing its rate of fire and precluding a sustained volume of fire. Utilizing the High-Low propulsion system, the M79 allows the operator to deliver high explosive rounds at a range of hundreds of meters, while its rugged design - consisting of just five major parts, a receiver, fore-end, barrel, sight, and stock - offers excellent reliability.
One of the earliest United States grenade launcher designs, built around the 40mm grenade.
