AK-47's and blanks
 

Had a question for any other Bravo's out there:

I'm about to go on a deployment and the CO wants the host nation guys to run through their drills with blanks, and wants to know what kind of blank adapters we need to purchase. If I recall correctly, the last time I saw OPFOR shooting blanks with those things, there were no adapters, I figured the 7.62 cartridge had enough ass to cycle the bolt w/o a bullet coming out. But one source told me that those were handloads. Anyone have any suggestions on how to handle the issue of blanks with the AK?

AKs have screw on blank adapters for the threaded barrels. Your best friend is the manual...RTM! Next best friend is Google.com

My AK manual makes no mention of blanks. Google wasn't of any help, that's why I asked here. We're trying to find out if the HN rifles have the threaded barrells or fixed flash supressors. Wanted to know if there were blanks we could get that required no adapter.

I have never seen a stock AK with a flash suppressor.

They either have threaded muzzles with thread protectors, or threaded muzzles with muzzle brakes. In either event, unless it is some sort of AWB frankengun, it should have threads and accept the BFA.

Did you check with Weapons Committee, or the SWCS Armaments Facility? They have several thousand you could examine, and probably some BFAs as well.

TR

Ditto on TR's reply about the flash supressors.

There's no excuse for not doing simple research about this topic and being more resourceful for your ODA. A simple google search will bring up literally hundreds of sites that talk about AK blank adapters. Every AK-47 manual I've ever seen contains information about the blank adapter (sometimes refferred to as a "blank firing device" in those manuals). The dubbed HQDA AK-47 manual even shows pictures of installing the adapter with a paragraph about them a few pages earlier.

Reaper- thanks for the info. The ADVON guys are mailing pics to me of the host nation AKs today, and I found some screw on BFAs for about $20 each.

Dan- this is what I call "simple research". If I had any success with what I found on Google, I wouldn't be asking you guys, and the CD manual on the AK that SWCS gave to me when I graduated the Bravo course doesn't mention it. Quite frankly, I've never dealt with blanks for the AK, and I think its a gay idea to use them at all, but my detachment cmdr is all about it. So, forgive me if I've offended you by asking questions related to a weapons topic in the bravo forum, I figured that was what it was for. Since there haven't been any posts in here for the last 30 days, I didn't think it'd be a burden to ask for some info. Thanks.

CT - Time to engage in meditation exercises! You're letting your obvious (and probably thoroughly justified) frustrations cloud your judgement. FWIW I agree about training with blanks - they build bad habits. Unfortunately they are one of the only ways to do maneuver training without spending a lot more money or accepting a lot more risk. In my experience most third world countries don't use blanks because (a) they don't train and/or (b) they cost almost as much as live rounds so there is no monetary benefit to purchase non-lethal tng ammo (see (a) previously mentioned). Blanks aren't worth buying because the budget has to cover live/lethal to defend the borders and keep the subject population under control.

The important stuff - Where did you find the $20 blank adapters (and how are you planning to pay for them)? That sounds like a fair amount of work in itself. Inquiring minds want to know. Since you broke the code please use this vacant forum for its intended purpose and educate the rest of us.

P.S. - If this gets you upset, wait until you've had to deal with the expectations of the guy who sent you on this goose chase and the frustrations of training the indig he's trying to accomplish his/your mission with/for. Words to the wise - Peregrino

Hey, I wasn't trying to piss anyone off by asking these questions. But I'm in a national guard group, and trying to jump through hoops to get ready for deployment from home kinda sucks. I have limited access to info here, and I have a overzealous team leader just out of the course who's on my nuts about a million trivial things. (why the team sergeant isn't mitigating this, I don't know). I did alot of shit with Hajis and their AKs in Afghanistan, but the thought of blanks for them never even crossed my mind until today. I was just going to let them go through the kill house dry a few times and then live. The Captain plans to use our opfund to pay for this, which I disagree with. I figured if I could get the types of blanks that required no adapters, then the team would be better off.
BTW- I actually meditate daily...it doesn't seem to be helping today. :D

CT,

You may want to check with www.sarcoinc.com, they are advertizing BFAs for $3.95 each. I have never done business with them, this is just what my Froogle search came up with. Stay safe over there.

As the 18B, you are responsible for weapons and tactics training are you not? If you think training with blanks is a bad idea (it is) then it is your job to convince the TL. The TS is not the only one who can train him in the way things are.
1. Teaches bad habits
2. Waste of space to take blank ammo and store it
3. Brings nothing to the table that can't be done with a dry weapon
4. Increases safety risks as it is not unheard of live to get mixed in with blank
5. Waste of valuable training time dick dancing with blanks and having to triple check live didn't get mixed in.
6. They will lose the blank adapters
7. After the first iteration, everybody will agree it was a bad idea and blow it off anyway
8. There is a chance they will have blank ammo in a firefight
9. They will play instead of train because there is no perceived penalty for not being serious
10. Teaches bad habits.

If it's your training, take charge of it.

amen...for starters, in my opinion (seldom right, never humble) it reflects a zero defects mentality that is best left in CONUS...you don't always have the luxury of training with blanks in an operational area, so not only does it instill bad habits among the HN troops, it is not a good habit to get into from a detachment's perspective...i doubt that the Jedburghs' used blanks to train with in Occupied France...

Roget that. I think I'll cut and paste your list of ten reasons why blanks are a shitty idea and email it to him.

That would be a technique.

Not a good one, but a technique nonetheless.

Nothing like starting a hate mail exchange with the CO just before an extended deployment to a combat zone.

TR

What Reaper said plus: I'm not the 18B on your Team. Now if you want to give me your salary, I'll make all your problems disappear.

Wow TR! LOL

:D :D :D