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What is the device in the muzzles of these rifles? (Afghan National Army)

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August 10, 2019, 07:55 AM
egregore
What is the device in the muzzles of these rifles? (Afghan National Army)
I ran across this picture (date unknown) of Afghan National Army soldiers in what must be "dry" practice, because you wouldn't want to actually fire the rifle.



It is evidently some kind of muzzle plug, but why so elaborate, or even have it at all?
August 10, 2019, 08:03 AM
BillF
Blank adapters, with these installed the weapon will cycle normally during training.
August 10, 2019, 08:18 AM
egregore
quote:
Blank adapters

OK, that makes sense. A blank would need something to build up some back pressure to push the bolt back. Does anything actually go into the bore, or does it just cap off the end of the flash hider? And it would need to be large and brightly colored so they don't forget to take it back out.
August 10, 2019, 08:21 AM
Dwill104
quote:
Originally posted by egregore:
quote:
Blank adapters

OK, that makes sense. A blank would need something to build up some back pressure to push the bolt back. Does anything actually go into the bore, or does it just cap off the end of the flash hider? And it would need to be large and brightly colored so they don't forget to take it back out.


The bore needs to be plugged to trap the gas. The BFA has an insert that goes into the end of the barrel.

https://www.amazon.com/UTG-Int...daptor/dp/B00AAVE4EW
August 10, 2019, 08:34 AM
ARMT Guy
Yup.

Blank Firing Adapters. In our military, these would typically be used in conjunction with MILES gear, ( military laser tag ) for force on force training.

The MILES laser firing device would mount to the barrel just behind the muzzle/BFA and would activate and fire off a burst of laser fire when the weapon fired a blank round.




"Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying who shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me."




August 10, 2019, 08:42 AM
clubleaf206
And the BFD is bright orange so that (ostensibly) the user notices it and removes it before returning to use live ammunition. Originally a BFD was manufactured that fit inside the flash hider. Sometimes it wasn’t noticed that it was still in place when a magazine with live rounds was loaded and the trigger pull. Hilarity ensued.


___________________________________________________________________________
"....imitate the action of the Tiger."
August 10, 2019, 09:30 AM
RogueJSK
quote:
Originally posted by clubleaf206:
Originally a BFD was manufactured that fit inside the flash hider. Sometimes it wasn’t noticed that it was still in place when a magazine with live rounds was loaded and the trigger pull. Hilarity ensued.



August 10, 2019, 01:04 PM
Rawny
How come ARs in the movies don't need them to cycle?
August 10, 2019, 01:39 PM
mo4040
quote:
Originally posted by Rawny:
How come ARs in the movies don't need them to cycle?


The guns in the movies are modified so that:

a) the barrel is such to provide sufficient back pressure for cycling...

or

b) there is a blank firing adapter built into the muzzle device...


__________________________
"just look at the flowers..."
August 11, 2019, 06:19 AM
PGT
Check out Movie Armaments Group (MAG) on social
Media. They post cool stuff
August 11, 2019, 06:26 AM
fritz
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Look man, I ain't fallin' for no banana in the tailpipe.
August 11, 2019, 07:11 AM
ARMT Guy
quote:
Originally posted by fritz:
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Look man, I ain't fallin' for no banana in the tailpipe.


Big Grin




"Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying who shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me."




August 11, 2019, 07:31 AM
Sig209
couple of nice things about training with blanks:

you get to train muzzle / trigger discipline because if someone screws up you hear the 'POP' and its a indicative of fire disciple-- basically it enhances / reinforces weapon discipline

you get at least SOME feedback in terms of volume of fire from participating elements - versus a bunch of guys yelling 'bang bang bang' or perhaps 'pew pew pew'

less dangerous - intermediate level - feedback to incorporate into the training without the concerns of live ammo

it allows training during mock assaults to practice reloading, clearing malfunctions, etc - ie manual of arms under pressure

a couple BAD things:

they are notorious for creating stoppages because they are under-powered and even with the BFA not much gas is created making for MANY malfunctions compared to live ammunition

after a session firing several mags of blanks your weapon will be VERY dirty due to ALL the elements being blown into the receiver (the barrel is plugged)

there are better systems - like Simunitions - in training actual marksmanship short of live ammo

you have to be extremely militant in the separation / control of live ammo vs. blank ammo in a training environment


--------------------------------------------


Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
August 11, 2019, 07:53 AM
egregore
The one in front must not be actually "firing" the rifle; maybe he is waiting for a signal or something. If he is, he won't hit anything like that.
August 11, 2019, 03:21 PM
arfmel
No need to aim. If it’s Allah’s will, his bullet will strike the enemy.

An additional advantage of the use of blanks for training in Asscrackistan is that it reduces the likelihood of the ANA fragging their instructors.
August 12, 2019, 03:09 PM
egregore
quote:
No need to aim. If it’s Allah’s will, his bullet will strike the enemy.

Big Grin He can also get his training in while not cutting into his prayer time.
August 15, 2019, 01:38 AM
ksss
quote:
Originally posted by Sig209:
couple of nice things about training with blanks:

you get to train muzzle / trigger discipline because if someone screws up you hear the 'POP' and its a indicative of fire disciple-- basically it enhances / reinforces weapon discipline

you get at least SOME feedback in terms of volume of fire from participating elements - versus a bunch of guys yelling 'bang bang bang' or perhaps 'pew pew pew'

less dangerous - intermediate level - feedback to incorporate into the training without the concerns of live ammo

it allows training during mock assaults to practice reloading, clearing malfunctions, etc - ie manual of arms under pressure

a couple BAD things:

they are notorious for creating stoppages because they are under-powered and even with the BFA not much gas is created making for MANY malfunctions compared to live ammunition

after a session firing several mags of blanks your weapon will be VERY dirty due to ALL the elements being blown into the receiver (the barrel is plugged)

there are better systems - like Simunitions - in training actual marksmanship short of live ammo

you have to be extremely militant in the separation / control of live ammo vs. blank ammo in a training environment


--------------------------------------------



No joke one dirtying up a weapon. Typically guys will fire very few through the rifle if they can avoid it. Once it is dirty all bets are off, but you can walk through the hills of Camp Pendleton and find two hundred round bandolier of blank SAW ammo and individual 5.56 rounds discarded unfired. No one likes shooting it especially without MILES gear. You will spend a day getting the rifle back to spotless. Firing it is only marginally more fulfilling than yelling PEW! PEW!
August 15, 2019, 09:25 AM
sigcrazy7
That is a specially designed device to ensnare cammo netting ensuring your chow ends up on the ground.



Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus
August 18, 2019, 08:43 PM
motor59
Anybody else been around long enough to know how they accomplished this with the CAR-15 variant?




suaviter in modo, fortiter in re
August 18, 2019, 09:28 PM
RogueJSK
quote:
Originally posted by motor59:
Anybody else been around long enough to know how they accomplished this with the CAR-15 variant?


Same style of blank firing adapter. That system works on any AR15/M16 variant with a standard birdcage flashider, as well as on some other 5.56 weapons like the M249.

Here's a CAR-15 with one:


While they'll work with the standard BFAs as shown above, at some point, they tweaked the BFA design for carbines to have a slightly larger gas bleed hole than the standard rifle BFAs, to reduce wear and increase reliability when used with carbines. This version is usually painted a different color (typically yellow instead of red) to help easily differentiate between carbine and rifle variants.

Here are some M4s with carbine-specific yellow BFAs:



Or, if you're talking about the early XM177 version of the CAR-15 with the elongated moderator, they were not able to utilize a BFA. But I doubt any of those were issued in training anyway.