crassus 0 Posted February 18, 2005 I'm hoping you infantry types will tell me the nomenclature and purpose of the attachment on the barrel of the M2 .50 cal MG, pictured here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Noon416 (OFPEC) 0 Posted February 18, 2005 I can't say 100%, but it looks like a type of BFA device. "Blank Firing Attachment", its used on weapons that use a gas-recoil bolt, to let you fire blank rounds while still having the bolt function as it normally would. If you fire a blank round without it, no gas is fed back into the system that drives the bolt backwards, hence it would only fire one round at a time before being manually cocked again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hellfish6 7 Posted February 18, 2005 It is a BFA. I don't remember the nomenclature, though. Basically, the M2 is a gas recoil-operated weapon but the gas created by the blanks firing doesn't let the barrel recoil as it's supposed to. The BFA basically creates a smaller hole on the muzzle to compress the gas sufficiently enough (in theory) to allow proper recoil. In reality, however, the Ma Deuce (and every other weapon, I suppose) with the BFA is pretty prone to jams. I've had problems with M2s, M60s, SAWs and the M16/M4 series with BFAs, but they've all fired like champs with live ammo. Edit. That's pretty much exactly what Noon said. I probably should have read his post thoroughly first and just shut up and agreed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crassus 0 Posted February 18, 2005 Nah, that's alright. Better to have a second opinion. I recall the BFAs we put on our M16s and SAWs, but I'd not seen one of a .50 before. Thanks, guys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hellfish6 7 Posted February 18, 2005 I'm kind of curious to know what that passive sensor-thing on it is. Night vision or thermal imager with the lenscap on? Some kind of MILES attachment? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Noon416 (OFPEC) 0 Posted February 19, 2005 Looks like your second guess is accurate, Hellfish. It appears to be one of these without the front and rear lens attached. And given... - the rest of the mount characteristics - how far forward the scope is on the weapon - and the cabling running up to it ...I would hazard a guess that they're using it remotely from within the HMMWV it's mounted on, as the scope is able to feed video images into other devices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supah 0 Posted February 19, 2005 I'd have said "heatsink" but then again thats just me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HuNtA 0 Posted February 19, 2005 lol, I can imagine it now <nerd voice> Ive got a .50 calibre M2 with 5 heatsinks, a thermal sight and armour piercing bullets </nerdvoice> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
