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Post by peregrinvs on Mar 3, 2010 22:06:24 GMT 1
Hi,
A thought occurred to me the other day; (it happens periodically ;D) what was the British military method used for firing blank ammunition when training with a .303 Bren or a 7.62 L4? I don't recall ever having heard of a blank fire only barrel or a BFA.
Or is the answer that they only used drill or ball ammunition for training?
Cheers,
Mark
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Post by Kev on Mar 4, 2010 1:00:24 GMT 1
A few Bren BFA's  From left to right - South African 7.62mm Fal type screw in adaptor (for crimped) 303 BF barrel (for crimped) 303 BF barrel (for wooden bulleted blank) 7.62 L4 type cage BFA (for crimped) ATB Kevin |
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Post by peregrinvs on Mar 4, 2010 10:25:35 GMT 1
Thanks Kevin - as comprehensive as ever.  Following a spot of Googling, I came across this thread on the subject on the Army Rumour Service website: www.arrse.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/p=1882611.html#1882611The second page has a nice picture of one fitted to an L4 in 1989. Cheers, Mark PS. Out of idle curiosity, what is the legal status of a BFA in the UK? I'd have guessed they were technically Section 5 like a detachable flash-hider, but I've seen plenty of L1A1 and L85 BFA's for sale. |
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Post by Richard Fisher on Mar 4, 2010 11:19:17 GMT 1
Legal questions are best asked of a (very expensive) lawyer! None of which are on here I think.
Mark, There are always opposing views to things and this isn't the right place to get into them but, as you say, there are large numbers of these items for sale across the UK and I am not aware of any case law that covers it so they've either never been challenged or a case has never got to Court on the basis of the evidence available.
Section 5, could, broadly cover all firearms parts. Some say it is restricted to pressure bearing parts, whilst others say it's only the core components of the weapon which enable it to fire, and fourth view I've heard is that they are parts of a firearms when they are assembled as such. There are views on all and all may be valid or wrong.
Richard
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Post by Kev on Mar 5, 2010 0:38:16 GMT 1
Hi Mark,I'm not sure what para/section of sec 5 you are refering to as I cannot find anything that could in anyway be rellevent ?
By there very nature BFA's are safety devices to obstruct the disharge of any shot,missile etc.
ATB Kevin
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Gripweed
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Post by Gripweed on Mar 5, 2010 20:00:43 GMT 1
How are these adaptors attached to the barrel? I mean the middle ones. Thank you!
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Post by Kev on Mar 5, 2010 21:10:02 GMT 1
They are threaded on to modified barrels.  ATB Kevin |
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Gripweed
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Post by Gripweed on Mar 6, 2010 21:21:37 GMT 1
Excellent pic! So it means that there were two different barrels - one for blank ammo and one for "sharp" ammo and you couldnt convert easily sharp barrel to blank one by attaching the adaptor as used for example on Czech ZB.26  Very interesting - thank you for this Kev! |
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Post by Kev on Mar 6, 2010 23:44:16 GMT 1
Yes two different barrels on UK Brens because the British army used .303 wooden bulleted blanks.  |
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Gripweed
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Post by Gripweed on Mar 7, 2010 21:28:07 GMT 1
I see. Pre-war CSR Army used wooden bulleted blanks as well but if I remember it well, vz.26 had detachable flash hider and you could screw blank adaptor there. Strange that this wasnt used on Brens. Attachments:
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Post by peregrinvs on Mar 7, 2010 21:32:21 GMT 1
Hi Mark,I'm not sure what para/section of sec 5 you are refering to as I cannot find anything that could in anyway be rellevent ? By there very nature BFA's are safety devices to obstruct the disharge of any shot,missile etc. Hi Kevin, Merely idle speculation on my part - I wondered if it was technically a 'pressure bearing component'? But as you've pointed out; 'if all else fails, read the instructions'. ;D Presumably a blank-fire barrel is a controlled component though? Cheers, Mark |
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Post by Kev on Mar 8, 2010 17:51:44 GMT 1
I see. Pre-war CSR Army used wooden bulleted blanks as well but if I remember it well, vz.26 had detachable flash hider and you could screw blank adaptor there. Strange that this wasnt used on Brens. Yes used on the vz26  I pressume it was a matter of end user requirements. This can be found to be the case with Czech made Brens for export.Iraqi and Bulgarian contract Brens had a screw on flash hider and BFA.  Bulgarian model 39 Bren with BFA at back. But Irish and other contract ZB made Brens had a one piece flash hider like the UK MKI Bren.  ATB Kevin |
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Gripweed
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Post by Gripweed on Mar 8, 2010 20:04:10 GMT 1
Excellent info as always, Kev!!!
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Post by Kev on Mar 9, 2010 0:55:06 GMT 1
While on the subject of BFA's here is a pic of 2 types of experimental 7.62 L4 BFA's in the collection  The one on the right to be fitted permanantly to a designated BFA barrel and the cage type which was adopted on the left which can be fitted to a standard service barrel. ATB Kevin |
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