Duane Beckett
The Vietnam War is usually remembered through the M16, AK-47, Huey helicopter, and napalm. Those items shaped the war’s public image, but the era also produced more specialized weapons. Some were rare, and some simply failed. Still, these weapons were part of the Vietnam War era, and even though they’ve been largely forgotten, they played a role. Keep reading to check out these forgotten Vietnam War-era weapons.
Mk 22 Mod 0 “Hush Puppy”
The Mk 22 Mod 0 was a modified Smith & Wesson Model 39 pistol built for quiet work by Navy SEALs in Vietnam. It used a suppressor, subsonic ammunition, and a slide-lock device that stopped the pistol from cycling after a shot, which helped reduce mechanical noise.
Safariland states that the Mk 22’s slide lock kept the slide closed to prevent the clack of movement after firing.
According to the Hush Puppy Project, the weapon began reaching direct-action SEAL platoons in Vietnam in late 1967. It was meant for missions where silence mattered, including dealing with guard dogs and sentries. It’s forgotten because it was a small-number special operations tool, rather than a battlefield icon.
XM148 Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher
Colt tried to fix a combat problem with the XM148, as soldiers wanted the power of a grenade launcher without having to give up their rifle. The solution was to mount an XM148 under an M16 or XM177. This solution later made way for the M203.
Small Arms Review reported that a report delivered in May 1967 described the XM148 as too fragile and unsafe for broad use in Vietnam. The under-barrel grenade launcher had been removed from use by the fall of 1967.
Some of the issues included problems with the trigger snagging, the sight being awkward, and the build simply not being rugged enough for the conditions. However, I see it as the forgotten prototype chapter of the later M203.
Beehive M546 Flechette Round
I’ll admit, the M546 Beehive has the weird museum-case feel I always notice with odd military collectibles. It was a 105 mm artillery shell packed with about 8,000 tiny steel flechettes, or darts. Fired low and direct, it turned a howitzer into a giant shotgun.
Wikipedia’s Beehive ammunition entry states that the M546 was first fired in combat in 1966 and then used widely in the Vietnam War. It was direct-fired from a nearly horizontal 105 mm howitzer and released its flechettes in flight through a mechanical time fuse.
U.S. artillery crews used it when enemy infantry threatened to overrun firebases. It’s mostly part of the forgotten Vietnam War-era weapons because memory leans toward aircraft, helicopters, and rifles, not desperate direct-fire artillery rounds.
M202 FLASH, Incendiary Rocket Launcher
The M202 FLASH was made to replace the old backpack flamethrower. Instead of a heavy and risky backpack, this shoulder-fired incendiary rocket launcher prototype was meant to serve the same purpose, but it had issues.
War History Online reported that the XM202 prototype was part of the XM191 system and was prototyped during the Vietnam War. The M202 used four 66-millimeter tubes and fired incendiary rockets at bunkers, fighting positions, and similar targets.
Wikipedia highlights that the FLASH was meant to replace the M1 and M2 flamethrowers, but ammunition reliability pushed it into storage by the mid-1980s. It’s most definitely a forgotten Vietnam-era weapon, but one that had a moment in the spotlight, as it appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Commando back in the ’80s.
K-50M Submachine Gun
The K-50M submachine gun was used by North Vietnamese soldiers and was a Chinese Type 50 copy of the Soviet PPSh-41. According to the Imperial War Museum, North Vietnamese makers then shortened the gun, reworking it for close-range jungle warfare. They replaced the wooden stick with a wire butt and added a wooden pistol grip.
The Military Times reported that the gun fired the same rounds as the PPSh-41, 7.62x25mm’s and could fire around 700 rounds per minute. Viet Cong and NVA fighters used the weapon before AK-style rifles took over, and that is why the K-50M was forgotten.