Blank Firing Grenade - Notes

HFM Pyrotechnics - Blank Firing Grenade (BFG) review
	Written by Nerve

Who hasn't gone to strike a Thunderflash or a BB Grenade, only to find that the igniter won't light and they had just wasted another wedge of their hard earned cash on a useless dud of a firework?

This experience will be familiar to most Airsofters who have tried to enhance their skirmish experience by using Pyrotechnics at one time or another.

For those of you who like to keep your battles as authentic as possbile, HFM Pyrotechnics offer a more realistic, reliable and reuseable alternative called a "Blank Firing Grenade" (BFG).

To arm the BFG, you must first unscrew and remove the explosive chamber and also remove the ring pin.

The unit comes with a cocking rod which has a depression at the end.

You place the depression of the rod onto the firing pin and push until the lever at the side of the grenade moves away from the grenade body and back again.

Then, holding the lever in, you can re-insert the ring pin.

BFG, two 12 bore cartridges and the cocking rod

It is easy to check whether the BFG is cocked or not because the firing pin is not visible when it is cocked. If you can see the firing pin, the BFG is not cocked.

The BFG's explosive chamber is designed to take a 12 bore blank cartridge (saluting blanks).

The unit also comes equipped with a 9mm adaptor which allows you to use the smaller 0.38/9mm blank cartridges.

The 12 bore blank cartridge (or the 9mm adaptor and the 9mm blank cartridge) is inserted into the explosive chamber and the explosive chamber can then be screwed back into the top of the grenade.

To release the BFG, Simply hold the lever firmly in, remove the ring pin and throw!


	BFG Components

It states on HFM's website: " The 3 second delay BFG is manufactured from the highest grade aluminium with rugged hard plastic protective outer to give years of problem free use when used correctly."

The delay on the BFG we recieved was timed at less than 2 seconds, which is a shame as 3 seconds would of been better! You can time it yourselves if you watch the Windows Media videos below, but it feels and looks like a quality build.

The BFG is also geared more towards an Urban skirmish, they warn about throwing the unit into mud, water or dust as it may find it's way into the mechanism.

BFG's - Notice the 9mm Adaptors and Blanks

Buying a BFG is a bit like buying your first Airsoft Gun, If you are going to use an item enough, you can save money overall if you purchase rather than rent or in this case if you buy a reuseable grenade rather than keep purchasing disposables...

Prices at the time of posting (Inc. VAT):

Blank Firing Grenade: £64.63
12g Blanks (50): £29.38
Delivery (UK): £10.00

Ok, so the average Thunderflash or BB grenade is about £3. The 12g blanks work out to be only £0.58p each!

Granted you would need to buy 35 Thunderflashes to equate to the initial purchase of the BFG (and you would still have 15 blank cartridges from the 50 left). But after that you can make some good savings!

This is one for the more serious Airsofter, but consider purchasing one or two for your team or even buy one to share between a couple of you, they are great fun and provide another level of realism to your game.

Don't forget to check with your skirmish site as to whether these are allowed or not.

Also watch this space for a review of another great HFM Pyrotechnic product - The Tripwire, which uses the same size blank cartridges as the BFG!

Windows Media (586 kb)

Windows Media (2.08 mb)

Windows Media (5.91 mb)

Nerve, June 2005