Swat VTG longevity

[Opforia]

Hi all,

Was wondering if any of you have any experience with issues around the Swat VTG.

The history:

Ordered in July 2017 from the now notorious S.W.A.T. Training Devices Limited.

Arriving quite sometime later with little to no communication.

Has had light use since then as a secondary grenade to my TRMR, and especially because I played mostly woodland in 2018 and used EG disposables.

I'm now back playing mostly indoors but about 6 or more months ago I noticed that the inner metal casing (inside the outer plastic casing) turns when you try to screw and tighten the loading cap back on.

With life getting in the way it's taken me until now to un-jam the tightly screwed-in top loading cap (via a clamp/vice to hold both bodies with force).

But obviously now I have to be weary of tightening the loading cap back on too much.

Conclusion:

After last nights game, the current status of the grenade is that It 'light-strikes' the primer (with loading cap screwed as tightly as I can, while the inner metal body annoying turns also).

With the same previously light-stuck primer still in the grenade for a second go, it seems to work, but is not consistent about always striking that second time.

Therefore it's unusable. It seems to be that the fact that the inner metal body rotates at all, is a massive design flaw - surely they could have put in some securing pins...

Anyway before I try to communicate for service/repairs with the non-communicative company, I thought I'd throw it out here to see if this is a common problem with a common fix?

Cheers

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

Hi there,

I have this problem as well - the quickest solution I've found is to honestly give the loading cap / inner casing a massive whack against the wall, the floor, a hammer, anything hard enough to dislodge the threads.

It's not ideal, but you're unlikely to damage it other than cosmetically with this method. I haven't found any other fixes other than this, or not over-tightening things.

 

[clumpyedge]

Might not help overly with your issues but I found this while searching for someone other than SWAT that had serviced their own BFG's

First, how to get in to them. The metal top of the grenade is press fitted into the plastic body. To remove the top, warm the upper half of the grenade with a very hot hair dryer for a few minutes or place the grenade in a warm oven (100c). Once the plastic is warm it is a lot more flexible.

Remove the cap where you stick the blank and instead of a blank inset a long bolt so that the shaft of the bolt passes through the hole in the cap. Screw the blank housing back into the top of the grenade and use the protruding long bolt shaft to lever out the entire top of the grenade from the warmed up plastic shell. You will only be able to get the top off if the plastic shell is hot, if it’s cold it won’t come out and you risk damaging the grenade.

Once the top is off the internal mechanism is very simple. The issue with mine was dirt under the upper (smaller) O-ring. This O-Ring acts as a one way valve to help you prime the grenade, any dirt under it will let air back through in effect keeping the valve open and the grenade will fire prematurely.

I recommend removing and cleaning both O-rings and then apply a very small amount of silicone grease to them. You only want a very, very small amount of grease as any excess grease will attract dirt and dust and could lead to more problems in the future.

You will also find a small allen head grub screw in the nylon shuttle. You can use this screw to adjust the timing of your grenade. Screw it in (clockwise) to increase the delay and turn it anti-clockwise to decrease the delay.

Reassemble the grenade by again warming up the plastic body and gently tap the top back into the body. If the body is warm enough it doesn’t require much effort to get the top back in.

Source link - how to service them

Tagging people I know have them just so its in one place rather thank over numerous threads..

@proffrink @Druid799 @Rogerborg @FreeFrag.UK

 

[heroshark]

bought mine about 6 years ago 2nd hand. It turns ,never had any issue. I've never really needed to do any maintenance on it. Spray a little silicone in see if it helps.

 

[clumpyedge]

bought mine about 6 years ago 2nd hand. It turns ,never had any issue. I've never really needed to do any maintenance on it. Spray a little silicone in see if it helps.

Mine also turn on the Dynatex versions but the SWAT ones are solid as a rock.

 

[proffrink]

Never had light striking on the Dynatex ones but I've had creeping timers on them. I believe they say not to put silicone in them because they can mess up the fuse time, but if the choice is between light strikes and the fuse time shortening then I'd be putting some silicone spray in it too.

 

[Opforia]

Hi there,

I have this problem as well - the quickest solution I've found is to honestly give the loading cap / inner casing a massive whack against the wall, the floor, a hammer, anything hard enough to dislodge the threads.

It's not ideal, but you're unlikely to damage it other than cosmetically with this method. I haven't found any other fixes other than this, or not over-tightening things.

Yeah in a similar vain of not being too gentle I used a speed-clamp to hold it with force while I eventually successfully unscrewed it. Though your method sounds like it might work in the field ?

Might not help overly with your issues but I found this while searching for someone other than SWAT that had serviced their own BFG's

First, how to get in to them. The metal top of the grenade is press fitted into the plastic body. To remove the top, warm the upper half of the grenade with a very hot hair dryer for a few minutes or place the grenade in a warm oven (100c). Once the plastic is warm it is a lot more flexible.

Remove the cap where you stick the blank and instead of a blank inset a long bolt so that the shaft of the bolt passes through the hole in the cap. Screw the blank housing back into the top of the grenade and use the protruding long bolt shaft to lever out the entire top of the grenade from the warmed up plastic shell. You will only be able to get the top off if the plastic shell is hot, if it’s cold it won’t come out and you risk damaging the grenade.

Once the top is off the internal mechanism is very simple. The issue with mine was dirt under the upper (smaller) O-ring. This O-Ring acts as a one way valve to help you prime the grenade, any dirt under it will let air back through in effect keeping the valve open and the grenade will fire prematurely.

I recommend removing and cleaning both O-rings and then apply a very small amount of silicone grease to them. You only want a very, very small amount of grease as any excess grease will attract dirt and dust and could lead to more problems in the future.

You will also find a small allen head grub screw in the nylon shuttle. You can use this screw to adjust the timing of your grenade. Screw it in (clockwise) to increase the delay and turn it anti-clockwise to decrease the delay.

Reassemble the grenade by again warming up the plastic body and gently tap the top back into the body. If the body is warm enough it doesn’t require much effort to get the top back in.

Source link - how to service them

Tagging people I know have them just so its in one place rather thank over numerous threads..

@proffrink @Druid799 @Rogerborg @FreeFrag.UK

Thanks, this information is absolute gold. Definitely makes me think it might be worth opening up. And therefore perhaps locktite/or similar/or pins can be applied on re-assembly.

bought mine about 6 years ago 2nd hand. It turns ,never had any issue. I've never really needed to do any maintenance on it. Spray a little silicone in see if it helps.

Yeah the mechanism seems low maintenance enough. But that fact that if I really tighten it down to get the primer as close to the striking pin as possible (to reduce the current light strikes) means I then can't open it up again with ease... kinda sucks.

 

[Opforia]

Never had light striking on the Dynatex ones but I've had creeping timers on them. I believe they say not to put silicone in them because they can mess up the fuse time, but if the choice is between light strikes and the fuse time shortening then I'd be putting some silicone spray in it too.

Maybe... the next thing to try is securing the internal casing from rotating so badly when I put the cap on.

I then need to experiment with just the 12 gauge loading cap not using the primer adapter (should have done this the other night at the field but fOrGoT). Presumably that gets the round closer to the striking pin (without an adapter getting in the way). I could also get a file to the exposed end of the primer adapter and take off a millimetre or two, this might allow for it to be screwed down more and get more strike pin contact on the primer round.

 

[2RIR]

Hi I hope you got this problem resolved as I've ordered the swat vtg as they are on sale at the moment. Could you post if you got this issue resolved cheers 

 

[Rogerborg]

Hi I hope you got this problem resolved as I've ordered the swat vtg as they are on sale at the moment. Could you post if you got this issue resolved cheers 

I very much hope that you actually receive one, but what several of us have found is that Paul at SWAT makes them to order, on a schedule that suits him.  You could be looking at weeks, months, or never before it shows up.

If he was up front about this I wouldn't mind, but the cun...ning rogue has been falsely advertising them as on-sale and in-stock for years.

If I were you, I'd initiate a chargeback with your payment processor sooner rather than later, and buy a Dynatex from a retailer who actually has one in stock.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

[2RIR]

Cheers for the feedback 

 

[EDcase]

Yeah I tried to order one from the SWAT website and luckily my payment didn't go through.

I emailed to ask about other methods of payment but never got a reply.

So I then got a Dynatex which is the original and works great.

https://www.defconairsoft.co.uk/product/dynatex-timed-delay-grenade-bfg/

I also did end up getting a VTG second hand.  Mechanism is the same but has more choice of adaptors.  I think the .209 primers are best though so no real advantage over the Dynatex.

 

[Rogerborg]

Yup, they're a good shout if you can get your hands on one.