High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade was thrown by hand. The practice of projecting grenades with rifle-mounted launchers was first widely used during World War I and continues to the present, with the term "rifle grenade" now encompassing many different types of payloads including high explosive, fragmentation, and anti-tank warheads as well as concussion, smoke, incendiary, and flare missiles. Many armies have replaced rifle grenades with dedicated grenade launchers - often attached as an auxiliary weapon on a rifle.