Airsoft Mortar

[Jacob Wright]

Have you ever been to a Mil-Sim game and found yourself well and truly stuck?

Is your arm just too tired to throw that smoke-grenade to cover your retreat?

Or maybe you need some well dug in enemy taking out so that you can advance.

Well now I do believe I have the solution in the form of the Airsoft 55mm Mortar MK.II.

First, I would like to thank AWA Herts for giving me inspiration and also to say sorry for "borrowing" their idea, they can have it back when I'm done!!

The mortar is 80cm long and made out of steel tubing, which is wide enough to accomodate thermobaric grenades and the rest of the ammunition, but more on thata later. It also incorporates an Acrylic plastic aiming plate, a 30cm Picatinny rail which I salvaged off an old AEG and a Picatinny rail bipod. (I will add diagrams shortly.)

Obviously, as it is only 80cm, it is fairly portable and does not require any fiddly construction prior to firing, which means that it can be easily carried around the game area/site. The only prep prior to putting rounds down the tube is setting up the bipod at the correct angle for the correct distance. NOTE : This weapon does require a two-man/woman crew due to the nature of the ammunition.

The mortar is fired in the following way;

1. Man 1 lights thermobaric grenade at same time as Man 2 lights other grenade.

2. The thermo is dropped down the tube BEFORE the other grenade.

3. Both men turn away and Man 2 shouts "Fire in the hole"

4. Mortar fires (DEAFENING BOOM FROM THERMO GOING OFF IN ENCLOSED SPACE)

5. Sights are re-adjusted if required and the process is repeated until the enemy are supressed/smoke grenade has caught fire

So the firing mechanism is as simple as a Thermobaric grenade. When the Thermo goes off, it creates pressure (And a b****y loud bang), which expands (Rapidly), lobbing the munition of your choice a fair distance.

As my mortar is currently under construction, I haven't had a chance to test it yet. So I'm working on estimations and ideas which come from watching the mortar firing at AWA Herts.

Hopefully, the mortar will be able to fire 5 types of ammuntion, and if you have money to burn, you could even fire your brand spanking new AI Impact Grenade! The ammo types are;

1. Smoke (3 Mins)

2. Ranging / Target Marking Smoke (30 Secs)

3. Airburst Munitions (BB Grenade/Powder Grenade)

4. Illume (I'm working on it, so if you have any ideas, tell me please!)

5. Distraction (A second thermo/flashbang)

So that's it for now, I'll try and add some diagrams, please post and thanks.

J

Okay, am having trouble adding pics at the moment, but will try and get them up shortly.

J

Okay, hopefully they worked.

J

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

how will the aiming plate work?

maybe have a differnt one for each ammo type and then mark on distances amnd stuff?

 

[Jacob Wright]

I am planning to zero it on my school field (The running track would be ideal!)

I will fire 2 rounds at different angles, then measure the distance and angle. Then I will mark the distances on the aiming plate and using my highly sophisticated aiming device (Paracord with a weight) I should be able to accurately fire the mortar.

So for large games where the mortar team would work in a support role, we would need a map and a ruler to work distances to targets etc etc...

J

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

ah, so you're diong it all properly then, rather than

'fire!!!!'

s***, that missed, AIM HIGHER!!!

and the thought just occured to me that an explosive, exploding just underneathe, say a smoke 'nade, will cause said 'nade to also explode?

or has that yet to be tried?

and what kinda ranges are you excpecting out of it?

 

[JerseyRider]

I was thinking except from useing a thermobaric grenade maybe a BFG or some sort of gas??

Also i was wondering if i could give it ago too for personal use only (no resale)

I have been looking for a project for sometime

Thanks

Jack

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

a BFG wouldn't work all that well due to the relatively low pressure.

some form of gas system would work quite well methinks, would also give more of a project than 'whack stuff onto pipe, fire at something '

 

[AshotNinja]

after trying out many methods of explosive ways to propel a grenade out of a mortar, we came up with a perfectly safe and 100% effective method of a gaming mortar.

we use pressurised air at 150-200 psi to throw grenades and smoke grenades to 80 - 100m ... accuracy comes with experience of use.

you need coper pipe, a valve , a innertube valve , a cut off handle , a 60mm pipe converter, and a attachment of 60mm pipe.

im not going to fully explain how to recreate it as the pictures are simple to see how its made.

the most important part is the method we use to fill the air chamber. we use a 320 psi tyre filler with a in-car adaptor, and a 12 volt external battery pack which takes the in-car adapter.

the 12 volt battery when fully charged can pressurise the chamber about 10 times before the battery runs flat (then we just recharge at the nearest car or hole in the wall)

the air pressure gear fits neatly into a claymore bag, while the morter can be broken down into two parts and fits nicly into a large molle style backpack... the whole unit weighs about 3 kilos... neads 1 to run, but two is faster.

sorry about my rug... its very blue..

 

[AshotNinja]

id also like to say that mortars involving the use of explosives and then putting a grenade to launch in as quite dangerous, ive seem quite a few near misses and almost fingerless hands because of these methods.

check out this method of ammo... each round uses two thermobarics, one to propel the other...

light the round and drop into the mortar fuse first, the explosion lights and throws the second round out simultainously ...

bear in mind the fuse lenth , usually 5-8 seconds is not enough... i recommend 9 - 11 to make sure it hits the ground then explodes... this method usually carries the round in a tube at 45 degrees about 60m

 

[Jacob Wright]

ah, so you're diong it all properly then, rather than'fire!!!!'

s***, that missed, AIM HIGHER!!!

and the thought just occured to me that an explosive, exploding just underneathe, say a smoke 'nade, will cause said 'nade to also explode?

or has that yet to be tried?

and what kinda ranges are you excpecting out of it?

It has been tried by the team at AWA, and it seems to work fine. But I'll only know once I actually fire it!!

As to the ranges, I'm expecting 200 - 300m at the moment, but again, I'll only know once I actually fire it!!

J

 

[Jacob Wright]

id also like to say that mortars involving the use of explosives and then putting a grenade to launch in as quite dangerous, ive seem quite a few near misses and almost fingerless hands because of these methods.

check out this method of ammo... each round uses two thermobarics, one to propel the other...

light the round and drop into the mortar fuse first, the explosion lights and throws the second round out simultainously ...

bear in mind the fuse lenth , usually 5-8 seconds is not enough... i recommend 9 - 11 to make sure it hits the ground then explodes... this method usually carries the round in a tube at 45 degrees about 60m

I'm liking this idea, so watch this space. As to the dangerous aspect, I beliveve my method isnt 100% fool-proof, but as long as the mortar crew is well trained, no harm should come to anybody.

Thanks

J

I was thinking except from useing a thermobaric grenade maybe a BFG or some sort of gas??
Also i was wondering if i could give it ago too for personal use only (no resale)

I have been looking for a project for sometime

Thanks

Jack

Yeah, go for it, I haven't put a a patent on it yet Lol!! If it works well, drop me a line by email and we could try and straighten some things out.

J

[email protected]

after trying out many methods of explosive ways to propel a grenade out of a mortar, we came up with a perfectly safe and 100% effective method of a gaming mortar.
we use pressurised air at 150-200 psi to throw grenades and smoke grenades to 80 - 100m ... accuracy comes with experience of use.

you need coper pipe, a valve , a innertube valve , a cut off handle , a 60mm pipe converter, and a attachment of 60mm pipe.

im not going to fully explain how to recreate it as the pictures are simple to see how its made.

the most important part is the method we use to fill the air chamber. we use a 320 psi tyre filler with a in-car adaptor, and a 12 volt external battery pack which takes the in-car adapter.

the 12 volt battery when fully charged can pressurise the chamber about 10 times before the battery runs flat (then we just recharge at the nearest car or hole in the wall)

the air pressure gear fits neatly into a claymore bag, while the morter can be broken down into two parts and fits nicly into a large molle style backpack... the whole unit weighs about 3 kilos... neads 1 to run, but two is faster.

sorry about my rug... its very blue..

It looks nice, but I bet it doesn't make the same sound!! Personally, I think I'll stick to grenades and scaffolding poles!!

J

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

could I recommend people use tennis balls or something similar before launching live pyro everywhere?

 

[AshotNinja]

It looks nice, but I bet it doesn't make the same sound!! Personally, I think I'll stick to grenades and scaffolding poles!!
J

actually it makes a very resonate and loud 'THWAMP' , we launch very heavy 90 second smoke grenades which only just fit down the pipe, so there is no air loss... its incredebly powerful for such a simple design

but i prefer it to the explosive propeled ones we see at some sites... i promise you one day someone will misstime the bang and have their fingers torn off or even badly burned.

 

[Jacob Wright]

Maybe, but me and the crew are willing to take that risk if it means added realisticity.

J

could I recommend people use tennis balls or something similar before launching live pyro everywhere?

Sounds like a good idea, Wimbledon here we come!! But seriously, I don't want any more messages from worried souls who don't want anyone to be injured. My entire airsoft team is First-Aid trained, we have 2 ex-mortar platoon guys on hand and the mortar's being constructed at a school where if it looks dangerous it'll be taken off me and I will be arrested under terrorism charges!

Thanks for all concern,

J

 

[Avenging Angel]

Hi guys I know what your doing is fun, hell we have all done this stuff before but a word to the wise. I have used the compressed air ones before with high flow gate valves and was able to fire full bags of ammo 200m plus ranges. Nothing wrong with that BUT my young friend (your reference to the school field) what your talking about is a barrel loading firearm. Yes yes I know this sounds dramatic, but bear with me. You have basically a projectile, combustion chamber and barrel. This does present the possibility of a section five firearm.

Put it this way, if I'm right and I think I am. If you fire a smoke grenade and it hits somebody on they way down resulting in an injury, firstly the sites insurance will be void due the the pyro being used in a way it was not manufactured for and secondly god forbid the police became involved and this has happened before, you could be looking at some serious grief.

Have fun, enjoy, be safe and think "what's the worse thT could happen"