T-119 LAUNCHER

The T-119 rifle grenade launcher was made by  Mecar in Belgium in the 1950's.  It is a NATO standard, spigot rifle grenade launcher for the U.S. Rifle, Cal. 30, commonly referred to as the Garand. The integrated ladder sight is specifically calibrated for the Energa rifle grenade produced by Mecar. The U.S. tested the T-119 but decided against adoption while several other countries did adopt the launcher.

This is Italian for "for rifle Cal .30 M1", indicating that this launcher was intended for the Italian army. There are two versions of this marking. This one with the white box around it is believed to be a later version made specifically for an Italian contract.

There are range markings on the ladder sight. Interestingly these are in yards even though Italy uses the metric system. It is believed this is because these were initially produced for the U.S. and the design was not changed when they were sold to other countries.

There are 2 numbers stamped on this launcher, a "64" on the top of the latch base and a "1" on the side of the latch base. My guess is that these are inspection marks.

The T-119 has a wire retention spring at the base of the spigot. This required the projectile to be fully inserted on the launcher for it to be retained. This is not a problem when direct firing the Energa using the ladder sight. If other projectiles are to be used at varying depths to determine range, such as the U.S. doctrine called for, this does not allow for retention of these projectiles, creating a safety concern.