AIRSOFT BB GRENADES: AN
UNFINISHED STORY – Part 2
By
LT Macpherson – Green Mountain Rangers – North Eastern Air Soft
group
I though a lot about how I was going to use
my new smoke grenades at the next skirmish.
Pinned down I would pop a couple of smoke to expedite a pincer movement
with my squad mates. Oh the fun of it all.
When I ripped open the box containing my “simulated military-type smoke
grenades” I was very disappointed with the grenades appearance. The grenade, known as a SE110 according to
the accompanying literature was a flimsy tin can with a wood block on top
holding a fake spoon (the part of a real grenade that is released when you
throw it).
My reaction: Arrrg $36.75 for this!
The good news was the things really put out a
lot of smoke! So I resumed my role as a amateur engineer. A couple weeks and a
number of designs later I had a much more realistic looking smoke grenade using
the internal mechanism and smoke device from the SE110. I have used these in skirmishes and they
work quite well for my purposes. It 
also look great as part of my
gear.
So what is the answer to my quest for the
holy grail of airsoft: a working BB grenade?
I believe we may already know.
In fact my latest amateur engineering projects are based on a principal
that may be just what some entrepreneur needs to finally get a mass produced
grenade into the hands of airsofters world wide but let me digress for a
moment.
As I was looking for a grenade body to put
the SE110 guts into I ran across a very interesting set of models produced by a
company called Arii. The Combat Scale 1/1 series from Arii is a set of models
of real military equipment. For example
they produce a plastic M16 
bayonet and scope as part of the
series. The most interesting, from my perspective has been the M18 smoke
grenades. They are exact replicas that
are made of plastic – the spoon even flips off when you throw it. I wanted to use this for the SE110 but
during trials it became clear that even thought the smoke producing agent burns
so cool that it will not burn cardboard it will melt plastic. Thus I had to
make a metal body – but I still do use the Arii models for costume accessories
– they look awesome. I just paint them and don’t put the decals on since they
come off under use. I also noticed on
that classic TV show “Tour of Duty” that the troops have grenades with no
markings. I also started producing M18
grenade replicas for display. They are
slightly larger than the Arii models but they are all metal and use some real
grenade parts.
Arii also makes a model M72 LAW rocket
kit that fires foam projectiles. I
have not seen or used the kit but the general consensus is that it looks good
but is not practical for skirmishing. You may now remember my comments at
the beginning of this chronicle that I have been working on M72 airsoft LAW.
My interest in this project was a result of looking into airsoft BB grenades
as detailed in an email to a fellow NEASG
player:
“Hey
C,
I
have been doing some thinking about the LAW project tonight and though I might
jot some of them down.
Q:
Why do I want an airsoft LAW?
A:
Two reasons actually - one it would look @#%$ cool to have on the field - kinda
like having a squad weapon like a 60 or a SAW - two I want it to functionally
deliver a knockout blow to heavily defended areas like forts and bunkers or
just many enemy players. It would solve the problem with AEGs - they don't have
enough fire power even on full auto to take out a bunch of the OPFOR.
Q:
How are you going to do the above?
A:
Well copy a real LAW for the looks - SOP for airsoft products but the internals....I
think it might be best to have a Pneumatic system inside that shoots a huge
number (like 500+) BBs at once with a rage of 50yards or more. How would it
work? basically one sealed PVC chamber that you use a bike pump to fill with
100 - 150 psi of air - a sprinkler valve with a mechanical actuator (trigger)
in between (see attached
pic) and a barrel with a 500 round BB sabot or the
like (this page
has an great way to pkg 500 BBs).
Or
you can do rockets like you wanted - see http://hometown.aol.com/spudrokmk3/
A
good site for this is http://members.aol.com/sph911/spud/pneumatic.html
here
is another http://www.corin.com/bill/paintball/aircannon/
Advantages
of this system - cheap to build - probably $45 for the guts and whatever cost
for the LAW outside - cheap to run - air is free - I'm thinking you could use
hard peas or lentils for the shot - or popcorn etc - environmentally friendly.”
LT”
If
you want to look at the big copy of the plan for the LAW here is the link
I believe
that the same principal used for the LAW may be used for BB grenades in a much
smaller package. Imagine a grenade you
charge with a bike pump that takes 50 BBs released on impact. That would be perfect.
So I’ll
leave this story unfinished since I hope to have and use such a device in a
skirmish soon. Until that time I will
keep working on my airsoft Claymore which deserves a story all of its own.
Lt
Macpherson