Introduction

General Dynamics’ Mk19-3 Automatic Grenade Launcher and Mk47 Advanced Lightweight Grenade Launcher (ALGL) are both 40mm belt-fed automatic grenade launchers. Both weapons use standard disintegrating ammo belts supplied in 32 or 48 round boxes. The primary ammunition for Mk19-3 is the High Explosive Dual-Purpose (HEDP) M430 grenade, while the Mk47 can also fire a Programmable Prefragmented High Explosive (PPHE) 40mm grenade with air burst capability.

Live Resin offers a number of accessory sets for their 1/35 scale Mk19 and Mk47 weapon sets. This review covers their Mk19-3/Mk47 40mm Ammo Belts (LRE-35080).

Review

The set is packed in a zip-lock bag with the resin pieces additionally protected between a firm cardboard backing. The CAD boxart picture on the front shows all the kit parts, while the one on the back displays some of the possibilities of using this set. The box states this accessory set is compatible with all Live Resin kits featuring Mk19/Mk47 grenade launchers, but also with any 40mm grenade machine guns produced by other manufacturers.

Although the boxart picture shows this kit consists of 9 ammo belt pieces, I got an extra carrier block with 3 additional belts in my sample. The parts are cast in grey resin. Besides some tiny flash residues, the casting is perfect.

The kit includes 4 different size 40mm ammo belts: 20-round, 11-round, 9-round and 7-round belts. The largest 20-round belt is depicted completely straight, while the smaller belts are slightly bent. All 40mm ammo belts in this set feature pivoting coupling. Pivoting coupling design is an idea from Picatinny rail engineer and inventor Eric Goon: the design is essentially a metal plug and metal loop that fits around the 40mm grenade round, allowing soldiers to easily re-link and de-link 40mm grenade belts. Soldiers can even use the pivoting coupling to attach partially used ammo belts or single rounds in a process that requires no tools and no special training or skill. Fielded in 2009, the invention is now a standard issue for both training and combat use.

The boxart picture displays the possibilities of using the 40mm ammo belts from this set: the 11-round belt is designed to depict ammo feed belt going from the ammo can in an ammo can holder on the left side of the weapon to the receiver, the 9-round belt represents the ammo hanging from the weapon receiver, while the 7-round belt fits perfectly to open ammo cans. Of course, these 40mm ammo belts can also be trimmed to fit if needed. Additionally, the belts can be bent, twisted, angled or similarly modified using hot water. Caution and a lot of patience is necessary to get optimal results.

The ammo belts look really good and the details on both the ammo rounds and pivoting coupling are masterfully executed in 1/35 scale.

Conclusion

Need more ammo for your 1/35 scale 40mm grenade machine guns? This set includes 40mm ammo belts of different sizes, some even slightly bent to depict different ammo feed options. The casting is great and the details are impressively rendered. With some additional ammo cans and spent 40mm shells available separately from Live Resin, what more can a modeler want to accessorize his Mk19/Mk47 weapon systems?