The man behind the Mad Duo has launched a pretty awesome blog that caters to the LE world called Bolo Report. Call it a Kit Up! for Johnny Law and in the latest dispatch, Bolo highlights an innovative device that should be part of any military armory.
The so-called BlankSafe adapter is a spacer and follower that can be inserted into any standard M4/M16 magazine that prevents live rounds from being inserted into the mag during blank fire training.
A weapon that is configured for blank-fire is still capable of firing live ammunition. Thus, during training operations, there is a real chance that live ammunition will be introduced, resulting in the death or injury of a friendly operator. This scenario can occur when rounds of live ammunition are inadvertently mixed in with blanks or when a magazine has not been fully downloaded after a live shoot, leaving live ammunition at the bottom. These mistakes are difficult to catch, especially at night and in situations of duress and fatigue, the very situations in which military forces train.The military has made an effort to prevent these mistakes through increased inspections, by keeping live and blank ammunition separated and by requiring that all live rounds be turned in after every live- fire event. Yet despite these precautions, serious incidents still occur every year.
So true. I remember covering a story back on 2002 where some Marine FAST guys were wounded during training because a live round was loaded amongst the blanks. That was a while ago, but it's still a risk and the BlankSafe device could mean the difference between one stray round and a safe training environment.
BlakSafe also offers a simple inspection device than can be used to make sure there are no live rounds loaded into a magazine that's not equipped with the full on adapter.
Be sure to bookmark the Bolo Report for more LE-related gear news.
