A soldier using a Rifle Grenade on his M1 Garand.
The Rifle Grenade is an explosive device launched from the muzzle of a rifle.
Rifle grenades were developed at the start of the Twentieth Century, and noted to have longer range than a soldier could manage with hand grenades. Early designs used a grenade mounted on a rod, which was inserted into the rifle barrel and launched with a blank cartridge. During World War I, the French devised the Vivien–Bessière (VB) grenade that could be launched using standard ammunition and a muzzle adapter to hold the grenade in position, reducing logistic costs and better preserving barrel condition.
Rifle grenades were commonly used during World War II, especially by the Allied American Forces and the Axis German Forces. They were designed to be fired from the muzzle from an M1 Garand or Kar98K. Today, they are rarely used as they have been replaced by under-barrel grenade launchers such as the M203. However, some police forces use a similar concept for less-lethal or non-lethal munitions such as tear gas grenades.
Battlefield 1942[]
— World War II Anthology Edition Manual, Mauser K98 Grenade Rifle
The Mauser K98, called K98RifleGrenade in the files, is a weapon featured in the Secret Weapons of WWII expansion. It is essentially a rifle grenade attached to the K 98, introduced to the German Elite Engineer kit and replacing the ExpPack. It functions similar to a hand grenade due to its priming timer, ability to bounce, and detonation. The advantage to it over the hand grenade is that it has impact damage and a much longer range.
Gallery[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Battlefield 1943[]
The Rifle Grenade is a secondary weapon featured in Battlefield 1943 as the M17 for the USMC and the Type 91 for the IJN, both for the Rifleman kit.
It is very powerful against infantry, usually killing in one shot with its effective detonation radius. It can also be used against vehicles, being able to destroy a jeep within 1-2 shots, but using it against a tank is not recommended unless said tank is heavily damaged.
An interesting feature about the rifle grenade in the game is that switching to the weapon instantly mounts the explosive instead of manually placing it like when a player reloads. Another useful feature is that a player can switch to their other weapons or equipment and the reload process of the rifle grenade will continue. The same thing occurs to the M18/Type 18 recoiless rifle.
Each kit comes with a maximum of 3 rifle grenades (once all used, the amount "regenerates").
Gallery[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Battlefield 1[]
The Rifle Grenade is a gadget featured in Battlefield 1 for the Medic kit, first seen during the Gamescom Livestream event. Three different ammo types are currently available, of which the player may carry one into battle.
A cup launcher is attached to the weapon's muzzle upon switching to the gadget. The launcher is reloaded from the muzzle (significantly faster than the modern GP30 launcher). The launcher is removed when switching back to the primary weapon.
Each kit comes with a maximum of 3 rifle grenades. The grenades explode either after settling on the ground, or five seconds after launch; HE grenades may also explode on impact with a vehicle or against destructible objects. The chosen ammo type can only be switched in between spawns via the Customization screen. The November 2016 patch added a longer delay between shots.
The weapon does not consume normal ammunition within the rifle and can thus be used even if the rifle is empty.
The gadget is based on the German Karabingranate M1917, adapted from the French VB grenade.[1]
Singleplayer[]
The FRG variant of the Rifle Grenade can be found in Weapon Crates scattered across the campaign. It occupies a gadget space and instead of being attached to the main weapon, it is always attached to a separate M1907 SL which is otherwise not found in the campaign.
Ammunition types[]
Fragmentation (FRG)[]
Rifle-launched frag grenades used to fight enemy infantry at a distance.
Smoke (SMK)[]
Rifle-launched smoke grenades used to block line of sight and prevent spotting.
High Explosive (HE)[]
Rifle-launched high explosive grenades used to fight vehicles and infantry. Higher blast radius, but less effective against infantry.
Gallery[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battlefield V[]
Grenade Rifle[]
— Frag Grenade Rifle In-game description
— Smoke Grenade Rifle In-game description
The Grenade Rifle is a gadget that appears in Battlefield V. It was first seen in the Devastation of Rotterdam trailer as a dedicated grenade-launching modification of the SMLE MKIII, fitted with a muzzle cup. When reloaded, the player will properly load a blank round into the rifle alongside placing a grenade in the cup. There are two variants of the gadget, the Frag Grenade Rifle and the Smoke Grenade Rifle.
Unlike Battlefield 1, the Rifle Grenade operates completely separate from the player's primary weapon. One of the Medic weapons—the M28 con Tromboncino—has an attached frag grenade launcher that provides an additional offensive option.
Singleplayer[]
In singleplayer, the Frag Grenade Rifle can be found in Under No Flag.
Multiplayer[]
The Frag Grenade Rifle is unlocked at rank 4 for the Assault class. As the name implies, it fires a Frag Grenade from the rifle that detonates after a short time. A direct hit with the weapon can kill from full health, with the frag grenade exploding on impact. Otherwise, it inflicts damage in a fairly wide radius, more so to infantry than to structures or vehicles.
The Smoke Grenade Rifle is a default gadget for Medic class. Firing impact-detonated smoke grenades, the rifle can be used to cover players downed in the open allowing a safer revive or to blind enemy positions and vehicles. A direct hit with the smoke grenade will inflict up to 10 damage.
Grenade Launcher[]
The Grenade Launcher (specifically the M7 model) is available as a weapon specialization for the M1 Garand, added in the Tides of War chapter War in the Pacific
Gallery[]
Frag Grenade Rifle[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Trivia[]
Battlefield 1[]
- In Pre-Alpha the Rifle Grenade had no reticle, not even when aiming.
- Using a rifle grenade with a bayonet-equipped rifle will cause the bayonet to disappear when the cup launcher is attached. It will reappear when the player removes the cup launcher.
- If the player's loadout is customized using the Battlefield Companion so that no primary weapon is equipped, when any variant of the Rifle Grenade is equipped, the player will pull out an M1907 SL without a render of the launcher itself for the FRG variant, and with it for the SMK and HE variants. In this case, for all three variants, the grenade seems to be reloaded from the rifle's magazine.
Battlefield V[]
- A reloading glitch may occur in which an invisible "clip" and one invisible round are loaded into the Grenade Rifle, using the animations of the SMLE MKIII from Battlefield 1.
References[]
|