M1 Rocket Launcher "Bazooka"M1 Rocket Launcher "Bazooka" - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video GamesM1 Rocket Launcher "Bazooka"
"Bazooka" is a term commonly applied to a series of recoilless launchers used by the US military during WW2 and the Korean War. It was a slang term adopted by the GIs based on the device's resemblance to a comedy 'instrument' popularized by Radio Comedian Bob Burns in the 1930s & 1940s.
Today the term is often used by the general public as a generic term for any tube-like rocket launcher; this cannot exactly be called incorrect, since "Bazooka" was only ever a nickname for the original weapon, but on this site it should only be used to refer to this particular series of launchers.
Bazooka rockets are often depicted with burning engines and smoke trails in fiction, which is incorrect: the rocket motor burns out while the projectile is still inside the launch tube.
The following weapons are in the M1 Series of Rocket Launchers:
1941 first model adopted from Capt. L.A. Skinner's prototype rocket launcher. First used in combat in 1942, on the Russian Front via lend-lease and by American forces during Operation Torch in November 1942.
Had two pistol grips (one with trigger) and a shoulder step which contained the battery.
18 lbs unloaded weight.
Introduced in June 1942, used until August 1943 when replaced by the M1A1 variant.
Not particularly popular due to the unreliable M6 rocket, use of substandard steel for production expediency rendering tubes prone to rupturing on hot days, and lack of a bore gauge for launch tube production, resulting in tubes with very poor dimensional tolerances: frequent accidents involving rockets getting stuck in the tube and exploding: these issues were compounded by US troops in Operation Torch having received little or no instruction in the use of the weapon. Issuing of the M1 was suspended in May 1943.
Introduced in October 1943 and replaced the M1A1 in production, operating alongside it in the field
Battery ignition replaced by trigger magneto
Reinforced launch tube
Wooden furnishings replaced with metal and plastic
Used improved M6A3 HEAT rocket and M10 Bursting Smoke (WP) rocket. M6A3 had a blunt, rounded nose rather than the pointed nose of earlier rockets, which had been found to deflect off sloped tank armor
Early production used T43 folding bar sight, later replaced by T90 optical reflex sight
Could be disassembled into two halves for easier carrying.
