Review VTG Blank fire Grenade
*malp*
I bought about 18+ months ago in a group order with a couple of mates. It didn’t feel quite right to
Write a review without extensively using the damn thing.
So after personally using this thing for over 150 times with 9mm and about 30ish times with 12ga, Its fair to say its been put through its paces. Between the three of us that got this thing we have used our VTG grenades for over 1000 throws of 9mm and close to 100 12ga uses.
The grenade timer is a reliable 2.5 seconds. We have never had any issue with premature detonation. The grenades function at all temperatures ranges +30c down to -20c before wind chill. As long as you properly affix the housing where the blank sits to the grenade body, and the primer is struck it will go off, unless you have a bad primer/blank.
Grenade is also very tough. I lost it at a field for a month, and a rather large dog used it as a chew toy for time until I had it returned. You cannot say the same for the ThunderB, I’ve seen those things go off in people’s hand causing serious injury, seen them blow apart spraying bits of metal from the busted core, seen them never go off, and of course no one wants to touch them. You are lucky if you are a regular ThunderB user to have ONE survive a full calendar year of regular use.
I have had a about a dozen failures to fire; all of them have been caused by either:
- User induced by not sufficiently tightening the blank to the grenade
- Full submersion in water
- Primer was struck but failed to fire. That’s what you get for surplused 9mm blanks
It cost us each 220 dollars for the grenade and a box of 960 blank 9mm back in 2013, and extra pins. I don’t recall how the cost was broken down between the blanks and the grenade, but I believe it worked out to be a dime a blank $96 bucks, and a home brew adaptor (pictured) for 20 bucks, which puts the grenade at about 100 dollars give or take. That was back before the exchange went to garbage and the cost has gone up. No idea what you are going to pay nowadays.
Volume has been tested by other users, I don’t have a decibel meter but the volume is less than a ThunderB although the tone & timber is definitely firearm like (duh). This has been shown on the Airsoftology video. Keep in mind
decibel is a logarithmic scale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyNWh-6UDeo
Issues:
When purchased we also asked for the 9mm adaptor. This adaptor did not correctly fit the
9x19mm cartridge. Instead the adaptor was actually designed for some kind of oddball 9mm used in the movie/prop industry which name escapes me at the moment. We took the grenade to a machinist and we had an adaptor made that fits Canadian surplused 9x19mm blanks. Cost us each an additional 20 dollars.
FYI Canada as far as I can tell is the only NATO country to surplus 9x19mm blanks. This makes the grenade super cheap to use. It’s quoted at 40cents USD in the Airsoftology video,
As you would expect you need to occasionally clean the grenade. The threads for the blank of the grenade will accumulate carbon buildup, the 9mm adaptor will get ‘fused’ to the larger 12ga cover. Use whatever you want to remove the carbon build up, Windex, Alcohol etc. I’ve cleaned it twice since owning it, but if you don’t clean it like my idiot brother in law (after 100 throws including 12ga) then expect to have problems taking the thing apart.
PROS:
- Price per through is ridiculously cheap compared to all other noise making alternatives
- Utterly Reliable
- Consistent sound volume
- Carrying reloads is easy, use a live fire mag moron proof!
- You can run whatever pistol blanks you want just need to have an adaptor made that will fit.
- Great excuse to break in live fire pistol mags
- Works as a dog chew toy
- Great *malp* way to recreate your favorite Archer quotes/scene *malp*
CONS:
- Price, Upfront cost is high
- Shotgun blanks not ‘safe’ unless everyone is running earpro
Shout out to team spartan ops in Edmonton for being stoopid enough to forget to hold the spoon down EVERYTIME they tried to do a grenade breach. Been a long time since I literally ROFLMAO'D. Which I had that on Camera. *malp*