442ndRCT Soldier's Forum

1. Pops from 101st AB makes these. They are awesome.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/D ... D3copy.jpg

Scott Pitts
621 Grace Way,
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
Pops506th@yahoo.com

last known price is $85
He takes Paypal

2. Bill Guiette one is also a great one but $25 more expensive and doesn't look as nice.

http://www.guiettemfg.com/catalog.html

$100.

3. GI one that you have to keep tight, can be potentially unsafe with some blanks, and does not look very good:
http://www.iar-arms.com/blankammo-real-guns.htm

$30.

I got this response from the guy that sold me the garand when i showed him the pic of the BFA from pops:

"I'm guessing the adapter you sent me a pic of will blead out the gas so the gas system doesn't get damaged. The people I know who shot blanks bent the op rod and dismounted it from the reciever which damaged the rear of the op rod."

Pop's BFA is still 75 plus 6.xx shipping. What is the deal with blanks and gun damage? What about the bfa's that dont have the air blead for the op rod?

Steve

I think he's giving you "his opinion" about what "others" did to "their rifles", NOT the one you bought.

What these people did is a "hack job" i.e. a shotcut to make blanks work in "their rifles".

Using a "blank fire adapter" is the proper method to prepare your rifle to shoot blanks. Using a BFA allows your rifle to operate in the same fashion it does with live ammo.

In order for your rifle to cycle each time a blank is fired, the BFA holds back just enough gas, so it has time to go through the "gas hole". The gas from the blank being fired goes through the "gas hole" and pushes the operating rod back, thereby re-cycling and loading up the next blank round.

There is no "gas system" in that there isn't some piece or part. The gas system is the hole which leads to the "tube" under the barrel, which the gas enters. What this guys is talking about is his "stupid friends" who bent the operationg rod ( lame, stupid, and dumb move).

Bottomline, the BFA works, and WILL NOT harm your rifle.

Yeah essentially a BFA gives the gas something to push against, in this case its a tighter muzzle, if you notice it makes the muzzle smaller, reason being that a real bullet would block the gases (which obviously give it a higher velocity the better the fit, supposedly the rounds for Germans are 8mm while the barrel is 7.92mm but I don't know if thats true). As it exits, it still blocks the muzzle and enough gas gets pushed into the gas port to push against the recoil spring and essentially what is a piston that is linked to the operating rod and receiver. A blank in a real rifle will just push most of the gas out the muzzle and maybe a little might seep into the hole, but with not enough force to push against the piston,spring, and operating rod/receiver.

Great explainations, i was clueless. thanks guys now i;ll just have to get a cheap one, at least for now.

Wow, the BFA from IAR is insanely priced, but most of their stuff is.

Many in this area use this type of BFA and they are good to stock up on for the guys who forget their BFA. (Someone asks me every event at least once.)

There are two types.

A short version as pictured by IAR and a longer version. (About 1/2 inch longer.
I do not know where all the longer versions come from these days but the Sportsmans guide used to carry them cheap.

The main problem with the longer type is that they are thin aluminum and come with only a .125 or .156 pilot hole. Part of the reason for the bad reputation these get is from guys not drilling out the pilot hole and some blank makers making loads that work with the pilot hole. (When someone else gets ahold of these they find them too weak and have problems.

There is a short version made by Fulton Armory that is milled steel and comes with the Military .174 orifice. This version is much stronger and less likely to round off the threads on your barrel or the BFA, but still has the potential to do so if not use 100% correctly.

The biggest thing that drives guys crazy is shipping. The BFA cost $10, shipping is $15. Here is the deal, if you are looking to get some for guys who forgot their parts, but a dozen, shipping is still $15.

While this is still the least desirable BFA for the M-1, there is a huge difference in the types that are out there.

Robb

I contacted Pops and here's what he said.

"Unfortunately, due to material and processing cost increases, I've had to raise the price to $85.00 per kit. The shipping is still $5.00 to anywhere in the Continental US.

Paypal can be sent to pops506th@yahoo.com

Thanks again
Scott "Pops" Pitts"

Price updated.

I just bought three from Pops and because of the bulk purchase he is shipping for free.

Also, Bill Guiette does not have any of his left in stock and hasn't for quite some time. He doesn't make them himself and gets the work subcontracted out. He says it is time he did but knowing Bill, he will sit on it for quite some time if he does it. He might not. Bill is a pretty laid back person. If somebody decided to suddenly buy, say, 100 BFA's from him that would light a fire under him, but he had been getting several requests from reenactors and hasn't done anything about it as yet. I should be going to see him this Sunday and will post if there is anything new on that.