Does anyone know of any good sources for these? Either 37mm or 40mm.
So far I haven't seen any that look close enough to a real M203 that didn't cost 3,000 dollars.

And is my understanding correct that the 40mm launcher itself is not illegal, just the HE rounds?

its not a question of legality, rather NFA registration. You can have a 40mm m203, but it's registered as a DD ($200 tax). You can also have 40mm HE (assuming you can find them) but each round is ALSO considered a DD, and carries with it the tax, background check, etc.


The 37mm "flare" launcher is not considered a DD as long as it isn't used with anti-personnel or explosive ammunition.

ETA:  i was beat to a little bit of it while link hunting

Quoted: Does anyone know of any good sources for these? Either 37mm or 40mm. So far I haven't seen any that look close enough to a real M203 that didn't cost 3,000 dollars. And is my understanding correct that the 40mm launcher itself is not illegal, just the HE rounds?

a 40mm launcher is a destructive device as are explosive rounds.  these are perfectly legal for you to own assuming you're a law abaiding citizen...  you just have to go through the BATF like you do with machine guns and SBR's and get a tax stamp for your destructive device.


the "good" ammunition is a lot harder to come by than the launchers.  flares, smokes, CS, and other assorted rounds are available for the 40mm launchers.  i'm told that HE rounds are sometimes seen on auction sites, but bear in mind that each one is a destructive device and will require a $200 tax stamp on top of the price of the round.  that, and i'm fairly certain there are regulations about when, where, and how you can fire that HE grenade.  if i'm not mistaken, you must contact that BATF and the fire marshal...  someone will be along soon to correct me if i'm wrong on that.

REAL m203's are readily available and from what i've seen, run less than $2k.  there's some LMT launchers for sale here:
www.impactguns.com/store/dd.html

and there's always www.mr40mm.com


37mm launchers are signaling devices and can be sent right to your doorstep.  they're fine for smokes, CS, and flares, but if you want to fire rubber buckshot, batons, or anything else through them, you need to register it as a destructive device.


i don't know much about the 37mm launchers, but it's my understanding that in order to make it look halfway decent, you'll need to do some modding to it yourself.  the mounts that come with the currently manufactured launchers are supposed to be complete junk.


www.37mm.com has a little bit of info on these.

I looked for this before because i wanted to do a copy of hte rifle I carried for the Marine Corps.

There are no 37mm launchers i was able to find without an insane pricetag that look like a real 203

if you actually find one, lemme know becasue i'd still like to do a rifle like that. A2 with theM203 would be sort of a nostalgia thing for me and i"d love to have that setup

Quoted: , but it's my understanding that in order to make it look halfway decent, you'll need to do some modding to it yourself.  the mounts that come with the currently manufactured launchers are supposed to be complete junk. .

IMO the problem with the looks really doesn't have muhc to do wiht mounts but the construction of the launcher itself.

Quoted: ETA:  i was beat to a little bit of it while link hunting Quoted: Does anyone know of any good sources for these? Either 37mm or 40mm. So far I haven't seen any that look close enough to a real M203 that didn't cost 3,000 dollars. And is my understanding correct that the 40mm launcher itself is not illegal, just the HE rounds? a 40mm launcher is a destructive device as are explosive rounds.  these are perfectly legal for you to own assuming you're a law abaiding citizen...  you just have to go through the BATF like you do with machine guns and SBR's and get a tax stamp for your destructive device. the "good" ammunition is a lot harder to come by than the launchers.  flares, smokes, CS, and other assorted rounds are available for the 40mm launchers.  i'm told that HE rounds are sometimes seen on auction sites, but bear in mind that each one is a destructive device and will require a $200 tax stamp on top of the price of the round.  that, and i'm fairly certain there are regulations about when, where, and how you can fire that HE grenade.  if i'm not mistaken, you must contact that BATF and the fire marshal...  someone will be along soon to correct me if i'm wrong on that. REAL m203's are readily available and from what i've seen, run less than $2k.  there's some LMT launchers for sale here: www.impactguns.com/store/dd.html and there's always www.mr40mm.com 37mm launchers are signaling devices and can be sent right to your doorstep.  they're fine for smokes, CS, and flares, but if you want to fire rubber buckshot, batons, or anything else through them, you need to register it as a destructive device. i don't know much about the 37mm launchers, but it's my understanding that in order to make it look halfway decent, you'll need to do some modding to it yourself.  the mounts that come with the currently manufactured launchers are supposed to be complete junk. www.37mm.com has a little bit of info on these.

Thanks for the links.
I'll register the launcher as a DD, so which caliber has more readily available ammunition? 40mm?

You can find LMT M203s for around $1500.

I've never seen 40mm M576 Multiple Projectile (Buckshot) rounds on the market.  I wouldn't think they would be individually taxed (you're not taxed on the shell for your DD Streetsweeper, afterall) and would be relatively inexpensive compared to chem and HE shells.

I want an MGL-137 or whatever its called.

I want an M203 now... I probably could only afford practice rounds untill the SHTF.

Quoted: I've never seen 40mm M576 Multiple Projectile (Buckshot) rounds on the market.  I wouldn't think they would be individually taxed (you're not taxed on the shell for your DD Streetsweeper, afterall) and would be relatively inexpensive compared to chem and HE shells.

40mm buck is not a explosive round and is not a DD in its self.  The rounds are out there. I maybe getting 5 vests of 25 coming in from my ammo source.

Quoted: You can find LMT M203s for around $1500.

where would one look for these $1500 M203s?

The Impact Guns link up there has them.

Quoted: Quoted: I've never seen 40mm M576 Multiple Projectile (Buckshot) rounds on the market.  I wouldn't think they would be individually taxed (you're not taxed on the shell for your DD Streetsweeper, afterall) and would be relatively inexpensive compared to chem and HE shells. 40mm buck is not a explosive round and is not a DD in its self.  The rounds are out there. I maybe getting 5 vests of 25 coming in from my ammo source. i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/Shark15/Picture037RD.jpg

That's the picture that drove me to finally start this thread


So which mounting option gets the closest to the barrel, the standard type, or the rail grabber?

I want to move out of CA so badly looking at this thread.  

Quoted: I want an MGL-137 or whatever its called.

MGL 140.
And yes - I want one.

I'd rather have a M79 with a 37mm barrel. That would be a sweet flare gun.

I mostly want to just shoot flares and fun stuff, but buckshot and other stuff like that sounds pretty cool too, so I'll probably just go the 40mm registered as a DD route.
As soon as I have the cash anyway

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I've never seen 40mm M576 Multiple Projectile (Buckshot) rounds on the market.  I wouldn't think they would be individually taxed (you're not taxed on the shell for your DD Streetsweeper, afterall) and would be relatively inexpensive compared to chem and HE shells. 40mm buck is not a explosive round and is not a DD in its self.  The rounds are out there. I maybe getting 5 vests of 25 coming in from my ammo source. i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/Shark15/Picture037RD.jpg That's the picture that drove me to finally start this thread So which mounting option gets the closest to the barrel, the standard type, or the rail grabber?

I would think the standard mount will get you closer but I'm saying this out of memory.  

The only picture i have of a rail mounted M203  is on a Troy MCS