Chinese QLZ-87 35mm grenade launcher

Posted March 18, 2011 in Other Gear & Gadgets by Steve Johnson with 33 Comments
Tags: 35mm, china, grenade, launcher, military

A reader emailed me this photo of a Bolivian solider carrying a strange firearms and asked what weapon he was carrying.

I was unable to identify it but Tony Williams, our resident ammunition expert, was. It is a Chinese QLZ-87 35mm grenade launcher.

According to Guns.ru, this fully automatic grenade launcher, like the AR-15, using a direct gas impingement system. It uses 6-round or 15-round drum magazines. The ‘light’ configuration, pictured above, weighs 26 lbs.

[ Many thanks to Tony for providing identification. ]

[ Many thanks to Norm for emailing me the photo. ]

Steve Johnson

I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!