Already got a 40mm M203.  Seems like a lot of LTL munitions are 37mm.  Which 37mm launchers aren’t toys and are actually constructed for more-than-flare use?  I want to be safe firing bean bag rounds and similar.

FWIW, I’ve already considered getting a surplus M203 40mm barrel and sleeving it to 37mm, but it seems like those are rarer than cheap primers these days.

Thanks!

https://www.exoticammo.com/Tac-79-37mm-Top-Break-Launcher_p_105.html

I have one of the tac 79 and for the money seems fine.

Had the receiver laser engraved so I could stamp it as a DD while engraving a number of other things. The guy engraving said the aluminum was pretty soft. But the barrel and breach all seem very robust and have steel where steel needs to be.

Look for old Federal Labs launchers or similar.  Just saw a nice old steel launcher sell yesterday for $300 on GB.

Other decent launchers might be made by Def-Tec or Penn Arms, but these are more modern and may have an aluminum barrel.  Lots of oddball models out there, most agencies have swapped out 37’s over the last decade or so for 40’s, but plenty get traded in still.  Don’t pay too much, they are kind of useless without good ammo!  I just want one to hang on the wall...

Anyhow- be cautious of bore condition.  37’s use black powder, so if they were not cleaned well the bore will be trashed.  Even though they are smooth bore you don’t want it all pitted and corroded.  

I think you're just seeing more 37mm munitions for sale because 40mm has grown more popular in LE and they're ditching the 37mm stuff.

As a general rule, 40mm munitions are more available (market restrictions notwithstanding). I buy for my agency.

Anti-personnel munitions in 37mm render it a DD anyway, so IMHO just stick with 40mm and its rifled barrel (for the projectiles which benefit from that).

We had some Penn Arms rifled 37mm single-shot launchers, but they got replaced with M203s in FD-203 standalone stocks.

FWIW, a lot of the 37mm munitions can be fired from 40mm launchers. Those with stepped rims are made to do exactly that. The thicker rimmed casings you may have a problem with. Some can be used with a few wraps of electrical tape. Make sure you clean well, as most 37mm less lethal including muzzle blast and older munitions use black powder, and are quite corrosive.

That said, if you are set on 37mm, old Fed Labs LE launchers are good launchers. Some 37mm ammo is launcher specific, so check on compatibility before you invest in either launcher or ammo. GROG

All this about shooting 37mm in a 40mm launcher is accurate.

The stuff that is made to be used in either with the stepped rim should be marked “37/40”.  Random 37mm shells may or may not work, I shot off a lot of out of date 37mm rounds thru 40 launchers, and until you pulled the trigger you really didn’t know if it was going to work as it was.  (Never tried the electrical tape trick).  Not all would allow the launch to close up either if I recall correctly.  Our agency’s only 37mm launcher got traded in by a sister agency we had loaned it to....we had gone all 40mm, so then I had to borrow a launcher to shoot up old 37 stuff that would not fire in the 40mm.

Basically what kind of happens is that Def-Tec or CTS do not stay consistent with their casings for the same payload as you get different batches of munitions, so you would have one batch of say CS long range munitions in a particular casing, and the next batch might be in a slightly different casing.  Pretty much whatever they were getting at the time I think...  So one batch of old 37mm would maybe fit and fire in a 40mm, the other one would not.  This issue was really common with their 40 loadings, but those all fit and fired obviously.  (The 40mm Ferret rounds were constantly coming in with different nose cone configurations for example.)

Defence Tech makes (or made) some pretty sturdy all steel 37mm launchers.  They are pretty common to find, as well.

Thank you, all.  I'll wait around for a damaged M203 barrel and will just sleeve it to 37mm.  But if I encounter a cheap Fed Labs, maybe I'll just go that route.