LESS LETHAL

Less Lethal encompasses a wide range of ammunition and related devices developed to deliver chemical agents, marking compounds, smoke, impact effects, or training functions without relying on conventional lethal projectiles. While commonly associated with 37 mm, 38 mm, and 40 mm launchers, the material shown here extends beyond those systems to include handgun and rifle cartridges with plastic, rubber, dye, or reduced-energy projectiles, as well as small-caliber chemical agent rounds and signaling or marking loads. Together, these items reflect the broad technical approaches used from the mid to late twentieth century onward to address law enforcement, corrections, military training, and crowd control requirements.

The category includes live, inert, dummy, prototype, cutaway, and instructional examples, ranging from baton, foam, rubber, and wood projectiles to tear gas, OC, smoke, dye marker, and practice cartridges, along with boxed material and standalone devices such as aerosol and grenade-style units. Differences in caliber, payload, construction, labeling, and manufacturer document both fielded service items and experimental or training variants. From a collector and research perspective, this material is valued for illustrating the full scope of less lethal development across multiple platforms, allowing comparison of design solutions, payload delivery methods, and period-specific practices within law enforcement and military equipment history.