Product Code Database
officer with a bean bag shotgun]]In current usage, a riot gun or less-lethal launcher is a type of firearm used to fire "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" ammunition for the purpose of suppressing or apprehending with minimal harm or risk.Combat Guns Hardcover – 1 Nov. 1987 by Chris Bishop (Author), Publisher: Book Sales; 1st Ed. (U.S.) edition (1 Nov. 1987), Less-lethal launchers may be special purpose firearms designed for riot control use, or standard firearms, usually and , adapted for riot control use with appropriate ammunition. The ammunition is most commonly found in 12 gauge (18.5 mm/.729 inch) shotguns and 37mm (1.46 inch) or 40 mm (1.57 inch) grenade launchers.
In the United States, the term riot gun more commonly refers to a riot shotgun.
To avoid breaking the projectile up, less-lethal cartridges are often propelled by gunpowder, which, when fired, may make an eruption of sparks and smoke larger than those made by modern cartridges propelled by smokeless powder.
One broad classification of impact rounds is direct fire and indirect fire rounds. Direct fire rounds can be fired directly at the target, ideally targeted low on the target, away from vital organs that are more prone to damage from the impact.
The PAVA in a PepperBall projectile is a pharmaceutical grade organic irritant and is based on one of the hottest of the six Capsaicinoids found in pepper plants. Capsaicin and Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl amide (aka “PAVA”) are the hottest of the six Capsaicinoids and are equal in heat value.
PAVA has other names:
Single-shot large bore launchers, such as the Milkor 37/38mm and 40mm Stopper, M79 grenade launcher, ARWEN ACE, and RGS-50M, are generally break open designs. The barrels are relatively short, resulting in a carbine sized gun, and may have a shoulder stock and/or a forward handgrip to provide greater control. Pistol launchers exist, but are generally only used for short range, muzzle dispersing chemical agents.
Multishot large-bore launchers, such as the ARWEN 37, are usually in the form of a revolver holding five or six rounds in the cylinder. Unlike normal revolvers, the cylinder of a revolving riot gun is too massive to be turned easily by the trigger pull, and is usually turned by a pre-tensioned spring or by a pump action.
Shotguns used for riot control are nearly always in 12 gauge, as that is the gauge in which nearly all riot control rounds are made. Generally riot shotguns are used, such as some models of the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500. Due to the reduced power of riot control rounds, there is insufficient energy to cycle the actions of gas operated and recoil operated firearms, so riot shotguns are manually operated, usually pump action. The advantage of using a riot shotgun for riot control is that the shotgun is a dual use firearm, and can switch quickly to and from the riot control role by changing the ammunition. The downside is that it can fire lethal projectiles, and so extra care must be taken in its use to prevent the wrong ammunition from being used.
A less lethal projectile gun, an example of which is the FN 303, is essentially a paintball marker, either purpose built for riot control, or modified from a commercial paintball marker. The pepper ball guns use special pepper spray ammunition based on paintball technology, consisting of a gelatin capsule filled with the riot control agent. The guns use compressed gas and provide semiautomatic fire, and the pepperballs act just like paintballs, fracturing on impact and splattering the chemical agent on impact. These can be used for direct fire, to break the balls on the target, or indirect fire, breaking near the target and spraying the agent into the target's vicinity.
Police have been known to use paintball guns loaded with paint projectiles, to mark particular rioters so that police can easily identify and arrest them later.
Some weapons discharge teargas as a solution in water.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> FM 3-22.31, 40-MM GRENADE LAUNCHER, M203 section 2-1.
| ARWEN 37 | 37 mm | 5 | drum magazine ARWEN 37 Specification sheet Police Ordnance |
| ARWEN 37S "Shorty" CQB | 37 mm | 5 | Short barrel, no stock, drum magazine ARWEN 37S Specification sheet Police Ordance |
| ARWEN ACE | 1 | single shot, telescoping stock ARWEN ACE specification sheet Police Ordnance | |
| CM-55 gas gun | 37 mm | 1 | |
| Cobray 37 mm launcher | 37 mm | 1 | aluminum barrel, retractable stock |
| Defense Technology 37 mm Launcher | 37 mm | model dependant | single-shot and multi-shot versions |
| DPMS M-37 flare launcher | 37 mm | 1 | |
| Federal Labs 37 mm rotary gas gun | 37 mm | 6 | rotary drum magazine, top-folding stock |
| Federal Labs 37 mm single-shot Federal Riot Gun | 37 mm | 1 | |
| FN 303 | 18 mm | 15 | drum magazine |
| Heckler & Koch launcher | 37 mm | 1 | retractable stock |
| Hilton multi-purpose gun | 37 mm | 1 | |
| M203 grenade launcher | 40 mm | 1 | underslung attachment for rifles |
| M79 grenade launcher | 40 mm | 1 | break-action |
| MGL-MK1 40 mm multi-launcher | 40 mm | 6 | rotary drum magazine |
| Milkor Stopper 37/38 mm riot gun | 37/38 mm | 1 | break-action |
| MK40 40 mm under barrel launcher | 40 mm | 1 | fits under rifle barrel |
| MSRG-38 | 37 mm | 6 | rotary magazine |
| Ramo RT 37 | 37 mm | 1 | |
| MK40 40 mm under barrel launcher | 40 mm | 1 | fits under rifle barrel |
| RGM-40 | 40 mm | 1 | stand alone version of GP-30 grenade launcher |
| RGS-50M | 50 mm | 1 | break action, specialized rounds such as door breakers |
| Sage Control Ordnance SL1 | 37 mm | 1 | |
| Sage Control Ordnance SL6 | 37 mm | 6 | rotary magazine |
| TW73 | 1 | breech loading | |
| Webley Schermuly | 37 mm | 1 | |
| Narendra Explosives Limited | 38/40 mm | model dependant | single-shot and multi-shot variants |
| RWGŁ-3 | 50mm | 1 | can use a net adapter, uses tear gas grenades |
| AWGŁ-3 | 50mm | 5 | box magazine, fully automatic, mostly mounted on vehicles |
|
|
