The Pallad (also known as the wz. 1974) is a 40 mm Polish underslung

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

, developed for use with the AKM assault-rifle and intended to replace the

kbkg wz. 1960 The Karabinek-granatnik wzór 1960 (), also designated PMK-DGN-60Katz, Russel, and Volstad, ''Armies in Lebanon'' (1985), p. 44, Plate G1. or PMK-60,Rottman and Volstad, ''Warsaw Pact Ground Forces'' (1987), p. 53, Plate E1. is a Polish-made vers ...

grenade-launcher rifle. The name of the weapon reflects the Polish-language word for

palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

. The development of the weapon drew on concepts provided by Józef Brodacki. The wz. 1983 Pallad D, the stand-alone version of the wz. 74, features a stock and AK-type pistol grip. There are also variants compatible with 40x46mm NATO named GP-40 (40x46mm version of wz. 74 Pallad) and GS-40 (40x46mm version of wz. 83 Pallad-D).

Design

The Pallad grenade launcher is a single-shot weapon adapted for mounting under the barrel of a rifle (wz. 1974) or as a stand-alone weapon (wz. 1983). The wz. 1974 grenade launcher is suspended from the rifle at two points: at the front using the barrel clamp of the grenade launcher and at the rear using a bracket that connects the grenade launcher to a special rifle bed. The basic elements of the weapon are: * A grooved barrel made of hardened

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

alloy and permanently screwed into the receiver * The

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

- tilted, rotated on a pin and locked in the closed position with a bolt placed in the receiver. A two-chamber propellant system is used to drive the grenades. The grenade launcher is equipped with a mechanism to prevent accidental firing. The sight is mounted on the barrel clamp, and its main element is the setting dial, in which the front sight and rear sight are mounted. There are two setting scales marked on the dial: one for the group of flat tracks (exposed targets), the other for steep tracks (hidden targets).

Variants

* 7,62 mm karabinek-granatnik wzór 1974 – a set consisting of a Pallad grenade launcher and an AKM rifle * 5,45 mm karabinek-granatnik wzór 1974 – a set consisting of a Pallad grenade launcher and an wz. 88 Tantal rifle * 5,56 mm karabinek-granatnik wzór 1974 – a set consisting of a Pallad grenade launcher and an wz. 96 Beryl rifle * granatnik wzór 1983 – stand-alone grenade launcher with folding stock (other designation is Pallad-D)

Users

* – 10 (''5,56mm'' karabinek-granatnik wz. 1974) were given from Poland and in use by Lithuania before 2003 * – ''7,62mm'' karabinek-granatnik wz. 1974 (limited use), ''5,45mm'' karabinek-granatnik wz. 1974 (phased out), ''5,56mm'' karabinek-granatnik wz.1974 and wz. 83 Pallad-D are in use by

Polish Land Forces The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history str ...

References

40×47mm grenade launchers Grenade launchers of Poland Military equipment introduced in the 1970s {{Poland-mil-stub